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Camera Iconafter Paula Huston was diagnosed with cancer, she decided not to have invasive treatment and ensured her life savings would go towards helping young artists. Credit: Unknown\/Supplied<\/p>\nIn an extraordinary act of generosity, a Perth woman has gifted her entire estate \u2014 worth several million dollars \u2014 to the WA Academy of Performing Arts.<\/p>\n
After several decades of enjoying performances at the world-renowned tertiary institution, Paula Huston made a seemingly easy decision to continue her support.<\/p>\n
The 76-year-old, who for many years lived near WAAPA in Mt Lawley, had been quietly donating $100,000 each year to support student scholarships.<\/p>\n
But after she was diagnosed with cancer, she decided not to have invasive treatment and finalised her Will to ensure her life savings would go towards helping young artists. She died earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Ms Huston attributed her love of music to growing up listening to her mother\u2019s vast collection of classical records.<\/p>\n
In a video recorded before her death in Melbourne, she said her life-long love of theatre, opera, music and ballet meant she understood how difficult it was to carve out an arts career in Australia.<\/p>\n
Camera Iconafter Paula Huston was diagnosed with cancer, she decided not to have invasive treatment and ensured her life savings would go towards helping young artists. Credit: Unknown\/Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to have some help,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s really only philanthropy that\u2019s going to provide that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former public servant \u2014 who won a scholarship to attend university \u2014 retired in 2009.<\/p>\n
Ms Huston told her many cherished friends that because she had no children and her extended family was well provided for, she wanted to make a significant difference by gifting her estate to a cause that was close to her heart.<\/p>\n
Long-time friend Irene Kempa, who accompanied Ms Huston to many performances, said she was a vibrant, intelligent woman who loved history and travel.<\/p>\n
She had also been enthusiastic about WAAPA\u2019s new premises, soon to open as part of Edith Cowan University\u2019s campus in the Perth CBD.<\/p>\n
![\"Paula](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/a94b27e04320122b654a82fad9d2a138fba8f771.jpg\")
Camera IconPaula Huston Credit: Unknown\/Supplied<\/p>\n
ECU vice-chancellor Clare Pollock said the university was honoured by Ms Huston\u2019s choice to give so generously and with a clear sense of what she hoped to achieve.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe understood how the arts strengthen communities, and she believed in the promise of aspiring performers,\u201d Professor Pollock said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer legacy will support generations of WAAPA students whose work will enrich communities here and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
WAAPA executive dean David Shirley said Ms Huston\u2019s generosity showed her faith in the next generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cCareers in the performing arts are demanding, and at times daunting, even for the most gifted students, so support like Paula\u2019s can truly make the difference between a student stepping back or stepping forward into their potential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis extraordinary bequest will allow aspiring performers to devote themselves to their craft with confidence, knowing someone believed in their future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an extraordinary act of generosity, a Perth woman has gifted her entire estate \u2014 worth several million…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134,45],"class_list":["post-311580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}