Portrait of Sam Lovell, artist unknown

One of the museum’s most dedicated supporters is Sam Lovell OA—songman, drover, croc hunter, stockman, saddler, gardener, road maker, tour guide and passionate resident of Derby and the West Kimberley region. He is also part of the stolen generation, taken at the age of three to Moola Bulla, never to see his parents again. Now, nearly 90, he is a regular visitor at the museum, happy to talk to visitors about his life and the history of the region, and with calm insight into the changes over the span of his life. One visitor from the caravan park was so taken by his encounter that he painted his portrait. Seemingly ageless, several years on, Sam wears the same warm smile of his portrait. An ambassador of Australian country music, Sam has made the trek to Tamworth’s Country Music Festival with a busload of Kimberley young people, where they busked together for large crowds.