Bec Cole is the Chair of NETS Victoria, and the Executive Director and Co-CEO of Footscray Community Arts. She has previously worked extensively in local government spanning leadership, strategic and creative programming roles across public art, galleries, performing arts, major event and activity centre settings. Bec is a former Director of Latrobe Regional Gallery, led the establishment of Gippsland Performing Arts Centre and is a champion of creating access to contemporary art for everyone. Previously, Bec led the Arts & Culture program at Wyndham City Council. Here she implemented a bold exhibition program at Wyndham Art Gallery, establishing a curatorial model of practice that supports a diversity of perspectives and raised the profile of the gallery to national presence. Bec holds a Master of Commerce with specialties in business, economics and marketing; winning the prestigious RMIT Master of Commerce Prize in 2018. She also holds a Master of Community Cultural Development from the Victorian College of the Arts. Bec regularly writes articles on culture, creativity and community, and has an extensive background in community engagement and policy. Bec is proudly palawa.

Dr Tammy Wong Hulbert is an artist, curator and academic in the RMIT University School of Art, lecturing in the Master of Arts (Arts Management) program specialising in curating. She is also the International and Art: History + Theory + Cultures Coordinator. Tammy’s research focuses on curating inclusive cities, enacted through collaborations with marginalised urban communities, to care for and represent their perspectives in globalising cities. Tammy’s art practice stems from her interest in expressing the multi-layered and fragmented space between cultures, due to living in a super-diverse, postcolonial society. As a curator, she has worked with a wide range of Asian contemporary artists in Sydney, Melbourne, Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Hong Kong, in galleries, museums and public spaces.

Photograph (detail): Shane Hulbert

Amy Cao is an analytical and purpose-driven Certified Practicing Accountant with over 15 years of experience in financial accounting and statutory reporting, tax reporting and compliance, budgeting, forecasting and financial analysis. Her experience includes project management, finance policy design and implementation, as well as continuous process improvement for various sectors, including higher education, financial services, and public accounting services.

Photograph: Nick Owen

Born New Delhi, India

Dr David Sequeira’s studio practice focusses on the use of colour and geometry in the creation of contemplative experiences. Working across media, David explores issues around high and low art, personal and shared histories, banality and profundity, the reverberations of colonization and the persistence of incomplete histories. Curatorship — articulating the intersections between objects, time, place and space — is an important aspect of his art practice. Major solo exhibitions of his work have been shown at the Art Gallery of NSW, John Curtin Gallery, Perth; University of Queensland Art Museum and Nature Morte Gallery New Delhi. David’s residencies and awards include the Australia Council for the Arts studio Paris, the Collex Museum of Contemporary Art acquisitive prize, Artist in residence University of Texas, Dallas and the Wyndham Art Prize. Prior to his current role, David held senior positions in major national cultural institutions including Australian Parliament House, National Gallery of Australia, National Portrait Gallery, National Film and Sound Archive.

Photograph (detail): Guilia McGauran

Nasalifya Namugala Namwinga is a Zambian, Naarm (Melbourne)-based clinical psychologist. She is passionate about working from an inter-sectional perspective to support clients, with a particular interest in culturally responsive practice. She trained as a clinical psychologist in Aotearoa (New Zealand) before moving to Melbourne and founding Pola Practice.

Photograph (detail): Wani Toa

Nicole is an arts management professional, with over 22 years’ experience in Exhibitions Management. She joined the National Gallery of Victoria in 2000 and has overseen the delivery of hundreds of exhibitions, including the NGV Triennial and Melbourne Winter Masterpiece exhibitions, as well as the annual Architecture Commissions. Nicole manages the exhibitions program at both NGV Australia, NGV International and the NGV touring program. She oversees the Exhibitions Management and Exhibition & Collections Operations departments and is on the NGV Environmental Committee, and the Disability Access Committee. She has previously served as the NGV representative on the Board of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria (2008-2011).

Joshua White is the Gallery Director of Hamilton Gallery. He has more than 13 years’ experience working within the cultural sector as a curator, strategic lead, registrar, and conservator. Recent cultural projects include hosting the National Gallery of Australia’s touring exhibition, Skywhales: Every Heart Sings by Patricia Piccinini and developing Hamilton Gallery’s 60th anniversary publication and exhibition in collaboration with leading industry scholars and curators.

Prior to taking up the role at Hamilton Gallery in 2020, Joshua was an Urban and Public Art Project Leader at Lake Macquarie City Council where he developed and implemented large scale cultural projects and created long term policy and strategy. He was Curator at Gosford Regional Gallery in 2015, where he developed significant national exhibitions and contributed to the extensive expansion of the gallery’s collection. Joshua was also the lead Technical Officer of Newcastle Art Gallery and steward of the $70 million art collection.

Joshua has a Master of Creative Industries from the University of Newcastle and maintains a close connection to the cultural sector on the east coast of New South Wales.

Photograph: Madi Whyte

Rhynah Subrun is an environmental sustainability professional with experience across a range of areas: policy development, program management, governance and reporting, legislative reform, planning and impact assessment, funding and sustainable procurement. She has worked for government, private and international organisations both in Australia and Mauritius.

Rhynah spent her childhood in Zimbabwe and teenage years in Mauritius. She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, specialising in environmental law, management and business.

Rhynah is passionate about multiculturalism and promotion of intercultural competency, particularly in the workplace and as part of organisational service delivery.

Isobel Morphy-Walsh is a proud Nirim Baluk Woman from the Taun Wurrung (Taungurung) people. She is a lover of anecdote, an artist, activist, educator, curator, storyteller and weaver.

Isobel’s creative practice is wide ranging and includes: weaving, lino printing, painting, fabric creation, woodwork, cultural objects and adornments, and more recently metals.

Isobel’s curatorial practice extends to education and has a strong and deliberate focus on First Nations narratives. She supports the need to decolonize, particularly through the treatment and interpretation of artworks, objects and images, with a focus on the communities they come from and approaches taken in development. Isobel embeds the values of her culture and ancestors in all that she does.

Photograph (detail): Victoria Morphy

Claire Watson is a passionate contributor to the arts community through her role on boards and advisory committees, as a judge for industry prizes, a writer, and lecturer. Her professional experience includes serving as an advisor on the Touring Panel for Creative Victoria (2014-2016), board member of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria (2017-2019) chairing their Advocacy and Research Committee; and a range of senior roles at arts organisations including BLINDSIDE, Asialink, Gippsland Art Gallery, and Bundoora Homestead Art Centre. Claire has curated over 100 exhibitions including the Artspace Mackay touring exhibition Violent Salt co-curated with Yhonnie Scarce; NETS Victoria/BLINDSIDE touring exhibition Synthetica (2015-2016); and the Asialink/BLINDSIDE touring exhibition Vertigo (2014). She has been a guest speaker at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei; Galerie Soemardja, Indonesia; and the TransCultural Exchange Conference, USA. Claire is an Affiliate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a member of the National Association of Visual Arts, an advocate for inclusive practices and a lover of innovation.

Photograph: Kate Longley

Born New Delhi, India

Dr David Sequeira’s studio practice focusses on the use of colour and geometry in the creation of contemplative experiences. Working across media, David explores issues around high and low art, personal and shared histories, banality and profundity, the reverberations of colonization and the persistence of incomplete histories. Curatorship — articulating the intersections between objects, time, place and space — is an important aspect of his art practice. Major solo exhibitions of his work have been shown at the Art Gallery of NSW, John Curtin Gallery, Perth; University of Queensland Art Museum and Nature Morte Gallery New Delhi. David’s residencies and awards include the Australia Council for the Arts studio Paris, the Collex Museum of Contemporary Art acquisitive prize, Artist in residence University of Texas, Dallas and the Wyndham Art Prize. Prior to his current role, David held senior positions in major national cultural institutions including Australian Parliament House, National Gallery of Australia, National Portrait Gallery, National Film and Sound Archive.

Photograph (detail): Guilia McGauran

Myles Russell-Cook is the Senior Curator, Australian and First Nations Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. He is jointly responsible for the National Gallery of Victoria’s collections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art and the Art of Oceania, Pre-hispanic America and Africa. Myles passion is for First Nations contemporary art, and much of his influence and inspiration comes from his own maternal Aboriginal heritage in Western Victoria with connections into Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands. Myles has lectured in Art History, Design Anthropology and Indigenous Studies at Swinburne University, and he is currently editor of the NGV’s annual scholarly publication, The Art Journal.

Yhonnie Scarce was born in Woomera, South Australia, and belongs to the Kokatha and Nukunu Peoples. A master contemporary glass blower, her practice explores the political nature and aesthetic qualities of glass. Scarce’s work often references the on-going effects of colonisation on Aboriginal people. Family history is central to Scarce’s work, drawing on the strength of her ancestors, she offers herself as a conduit, sharing their significant stories from the past. Scarce was the winner of the prestigious NGV Architecture Commission 2019. In 2018 Scarce was the recipient of the Kate Challis RAKA award, for her contribution to the visual arts in Australia, as well as the Indigenous Ceramic Award from the Shepparton Art Museum. Her involvement in international exhibitions includes the Pavilion of Contemporary Art, Milan; and the Museum of London, Ontario, Canada. Previous international shows include the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India, 2018; 55th Venice Biennale collateral exhibition Personal Structures 2013, Venice; Harvard Art Museum, Massachusetts 2016; and Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum, Virginia, USA 2012.

Photograph (detail): Janelle Low

Isobel Morphy-Walsh is a proud Nirim Baluk Woman from the Taun Wurrung (Taungurung) people. She is a lover of anecdote, an artist, activist, educator, curator, storyteller and weaver.

Isobel’s creative practice is wide ranging and includes: weaving, lino printing, painting, fabric creation, woodwork, cultural objects and adornments, and more recently metals.

Isobel’s curatorial practice extends to education and has a strong and deliberate focus on First Nations narratives. She supports the need to decolonize, particularly through the treatment and interpretation of artworks, objects and images, with a focus on the communities they come from and approaches taken in development. Isobel embeds the values of her culture and ancestors in all that she does.

Photograph (detail): Victoria Morphy

Eric Nash is an arts professional with qualifications in Visual Art, Arts Administration, and Management, and a wealth of experience in the gallery sector.
Eric was appointed in 2019 to lead the Benalla Art Gallery – a cultural and architectural icon of northeast Victoria since it opened in 1975, with a significant Collection spanning three centuries of Australian art. Eric was previously the General Manager for the country’s leading lens-based media gallery, the Centre for Contemporary Photography. Eric has also developed training programs for Victorian galleries’ peak body, the Public Galleries Association of Victoria. He is experienced in working in public galleries in a regional context, having worked for Perc Tucker Regional Gallery and Pinnacles Gallery in Townsville for nine years, including as Curator from 2013 to 2016.

David Fitzsimmons is a senior program lead and producer of collaborative public art projects with over 30 years’ experience in arts practice and cultural industries. His experience spans local and state government, private art consultancies, commercial and public galleries, art and architectural practice.

His experience includes team leadership, strategy and cultural policy development, arts program and collections management. In his current role in the Creative Urban Places team at the City of Melbourne, David produced comprehensive developer guidelines for art project commissioning and street art. His current focus is leading a number of significant collaborations with Naarm’s Aboriginal communities including the Stolen Generations.

David’s extensive time in Local Government settings – capital city, suburban and regional – has included design and delivery of cultural facilities and programs with a strong focus on inclusion and accessibility. He is an occasional presenter in tertiary settings and has Chaired Deakin University’s Course Advisory Panel for Undergraduate and Masters of Creative Arts programs.

Holding a Bachelor of Architecture (Honours), a Graduate Diploma of Art in Public Places (RMIT University) and a Bachelor of Fine Art (Monash University), David was three times a finalist in the McClelland Sculpture Prize.

Zoë Bastin is an artist whose expanded choreographic practice considers exhibition, installation, publishing and performance as part of the same political project – the reorganisation of societal structures that limit bodies.

Zoë considers situations, movements and objects as connected in artistic production. Her projects operate within academic, gallery, theatre and public art realms traversing various artistic modes. This practice emerged during visual art studies (BFA, Hon, PhD) considering the sculptural potential of the physical body. She studied, then later taught, at Mangala Studios in Carlton, an important site in the lineage of Australian German Expressionist Dance (est.1970). In recent years her research has become increasingly interested in the complexity of practices, ideologies, and aesthetic modes of making within settler Australian legacies of dance and their intersection with visual art.

Zoë completed a PhD at RMIT University in 2021. She has previously exhibited and performed at the Villa Lena Foundazione, Chunky Move, Bus Projects, Dancehouse, Midsumma Festival, Felt Space, c3 Contemporary Art Space, Seventh Gallery, Testing Grounds, BLINDSIDE, Bloc Projects, KINGS Artist Run, MADA Gallery at Monash University, Project Space at RMIT University, and The Substation.

Eugenia Lim is a Naarm/Melbourne-based artist of Chinese-Singaporean heritage who works across body, lens, social and spatial practice to explore how migration, capital and encounter cut, divide and bond our interdependent world. Based on unceded lands in the Kulin Nation, Lim has shown at the Tate Modern (London), LOOP (Barcelona), Recontemporary (Turin), Kassel Dokfest, Museum of Contemporary Art (Syd), ACCA, Next Wave, FACT (Liverpool), and EXiS (Seoul). She co-founded CHANNELS Festival, co-wrote and hosted Video Becomes Us on ABC iView and is a former co-director at APHIDS. Lim has been artist-in-residence with the Experimental Television Centre (NY), Bundanon Trust, 4A Beijing Studio, and Gertrude Contemporary. Lim is a 2022 Sidney Myer Creative Fellow and winner of Charlottenborg Spring’s 2022 Deep Forest Art Land Award. Eugenia Lim is represented by STATION.

Photograph (Detail): Bryony Jackson

Bec Cole is the Chair of NETS Victoria, and the Executive Director and Co-CEO of Footscray Community Arts. She has previously worked extensively in local government spanning leadership, strategic and creative programming roles across public art, galleries, performing arts, major event and activity centre settings. Bec is a former Director of Latrobe Regional Gallery, led the establishment of Gippsland Performing Arts Centre and is a champion of creating access to contemporary art for everyone. Previously, Bec led the Arts & Culture program at Wyndham City Council. Here she implemented a bold exhibition program at Wyndham Art Gallery, establishing a curatorial model of practice that supports a diversity of perspectives and raised the profile of the gallery to national presence. Bec holds a Master of Commerce with specialties in business, economics and marketing; winning the prestigious RMIT Master of Commerce Prize in 2018. She also holds a Master of Community Cultural Development from the Victorian College of the Arts. Bec regularly writes articles on culture, creativity and community, and has an extensive background in community engagement and policy. Bec is proudly palawa.

Amy Cao is an analytical and purpose-driven Certified Practicing Accountant with over 15 years of experience in financial accounting and statutory reporting, tax reporting and compliance, budgeting, forecasting and financial analysis. Her experience includes project management, finance policy design and implementation, as well as continuous process improvement for various sectors, including higher education, financial services, and public accounting services.

Photograph: Nick Owen

Nicole is an arts management professional, with over 22 years’ experience in Exhibitions Management. She joined the National Gallery of Victoria in 2000 and has overseen the delivery of hundreds of exhibitions, including the NGV Triennial and Melbourne Winter Masterpiece exhibitions, as well as the annual Architecture Commissions. Nicole manages the exhibitions program at both NGV Australia, NGV International and the NGV touring program. She oversees the Exhibitions Management and Exhibition & Collections Operations departments and is on the NGV Environmental Committee, and the Disability Access Committee. She has previously served as the NGV representative on the Board of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria (2008-2011).

Hester Lyon is an arts worker, writer and curator. Recent appointments include Gallery & Museum Program Officer at the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery and GeoCentre, and Board of Directors at SEVENTH Gallery. Hester has previously worked at a number of public and commercial organisations including LON Gallery, VAULT Magazine, Monash University Museum of Art, ARC ONE Gallery and the Ballarat International Foto Biennale. Her writing has appeared in Memo Review, Fine Print Magazine and VAULT Magazine. Hester holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Master of Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne.

Photograph: Samantha Lynch