Fame & fortune –sustaining your artistic practice

Previously Executive Director of Vox Populi, a contemporary art space and collective in Philadelphia in the US. Bree brings strong management, fundraising and curatorial experience and an extensive network in the national and international cultural sector. Among her successes is a background of curatorial work with exhibitions of work by leading Australian artists including Daniel Boyd, Shaun Gladwell, Angelica Mesiti, Kate Mitchell, and Mike Parr, and professional engagements with the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Tyler School of Art, The Delaware Contemporary, and Washington Project for the Arts, among others. 

Rebecca has been sought after as a creative and critical thinker in interdisciplinary and intercultural contexts, and has been active in developing an artist led practice and philosophy in Australia, the USA and South East Asia. She has worked with key arts organisations in Australia: Performance Space, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Pact Theatre, ArtSpace, Urban Theatre Projects, Watch this Space, Lismore Regional Art Gallery, as well as collaborating with many leading artists in Sydney and internationally. Rebecca is currently focussed on the development of two projects about libraries and laundromats which investigate artist led practice at the intersection of economies and archiving.

Alex is a contemporary artist living in Kandos NSW, Australia. His practice is based in photo media although he works across installation, performance and video as well. Alex is an active organiser—curating blogging, writing about the art, artists, and scene he's participated in for the last five years. Alex has co-founded and run the Artist Run Initiative, studios and exhibition space for two years called INDEX. Most recently he co-founded a contemporary arts festival in rural NSW, Cementa.

Nat Randall is a Sydney-based artist and a core member of collectives Hissy Fit and Team MESS. Nat makes work across performance and video experimenting with interdisciplinary practices. She also co-hosts the FBi Radio program Canvas. Nat has extensive knowledge of the NSW arts and cultural landscape.   

Heather Whitely Robertson is Head of Learning and Participation at AGNSW and is a creative leader in the field of arts learning and audience engagement. Trained as an architect and educator, she has spent her career working on museum redevelopment projects in Australia and the UK. Prior to commencing at AGNSW, Heather has held multiple roles in the industry including Director of Audiences and Creative Learning at the MCA, Learning Manager for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; Head of Learning at Open House London; Curator of Family and Community Programmes at Tate Modern and Education Officer at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Heather holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture, Curtin University; Graduate Diploma in Education, University of Notre Dame Australia; Postgraduate Diploma in Visual & Performing Arts, RMIT University; and Masters of Education (Arts Administration), RMIT University.

Nicole Monks is a trans-disciplinary artist working across furniture design, photo media and light sculpture. In 2012, Monks founded the company ‘blackandwhite creative’ to weave Aboriginal philosphies of sustainability, innovation and collaboration into contemporary art and design projects. Nicole has previously participated in panel discussions about collaboration, women in the Arts and exploring the value of mentoring and the mentor/mentee relationship.

Abdul Abdullah is an artist currently based in Sydney, who works across painting, photography, video, installation and performance. As a self-described ‘outsider amongst outsiders’, his practice is primarily concerned with the experience of the ‘other’ in society. Abdullah’s projects have engaged with different marginalized minority groups and he is particularly interested in the experience of young Muslims in the contemporary multicultural Australian context. Through these processes and explorations Abdullah extrapolates this outlook to an examination of universal aspects of human nature. 

Toby Chapman is a curator and producer of contemporary visual art who has delivered a broad range of artistic, cultural and educational programs in partnership with local, national and international organisations. He has extensive experience working in gallery contexts as well as initiating and developing relationships between artists and non-arts organisations. In his previous role at 4A Toby curated over a dozen exhibition including Vertical Villages (2013) 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and 2013 Jakarta Biennale; MASS GROUP INCIDENT (co-curated with Pedro de Almeida and Aaron Seeto) (2015); Future Archaeology (2015) and Feedback: an experimental collaboration across sound and vision (2016). He was the inaugural recipient of the NAVA Emerging Curators Grant (2010); participated in the 4A Emerging Curators Intensive (2012) and was a recipient of the MGNSW Curatorial Mentorship (2013).