people
Firstdraft operates through the dedicated work of its staff, board, advisory committee and volunteers. The Board of Directors consists of a diverse group of early-career artists and arts professionals, whose skills and knowledge are key to realising the success of our vision.
Firstdraft operates through the dedicated work of our staff, board, advisory committee and volunteers. The board consists of a diverse group of early-career artists and arts professionals, whose skills and knowledge are key to realising the success of our vision. Current vacancies can be found here.
staff
Giulia Giorgi is an art historian specialised in 20th-century European art and she lives and works on Gadigal Land.
Emma Cao is an arts worker living on the traditional lands of the Cadigal, Wangal and Bediagal clans of the Dharug nation.
Caity Reynolds is an artist, researcher and arts worker who has been living and working on Bundjalung land in Northern New South Wales for the past two years.
board members
Augusta Supple is an award-winning writer, creative producer, and arts and cultural strategist living and working in Western Sydney.
James Little is an artist and arts professional who has exhibited around Australia. He was the co-founder of Nicholas Projects, a curated gallery space in Melbourne.
Dominic Kavanagh is Associate Director at Martin Browne Contemporary in Paddington and an advisor across public, private and corporate collections.
Michelle Wang is an art consultant, curator and writer who is passionate about ways of making the arts inclusive and accessible, through collaboration, experimentation and uplifting the voices of Australia's diaspora communities.
Kym Elphinstone is an arts advisor, advocate and the founder of Articulate, Australia's leading cultural agency, and its sister content agency, The Golden Mean.
Monica Rani Rudhar is an artist whose work spans video, performance and sculpture and speaks to longing and loss as she navigates the cultural disconnection that stems from the complexities of her multiracial ethnicity.
Sambavi Seermaran is an Australian Tamil emerging curator, artist and lawyer. She is passionate about amplifying and centring the voices of marginalised and disempowered peoples within Sydney's cultural spaces.
advisory committee
Firstdraft’s Advisory Committee is integral to the sound governance of Firstdraft. Comprising business and cultural leaders, their expertise in the areas of strategic direction, partnerships and governance enable the directorate to continue to strengthen and advance the role of Firstdraft in the Australian arts sector.
Members
M. Sunflower (First Nations and Accessibility Advisor), Olivia Welch and Zoe Theodore
past co-directors
Geirthana Nandakumaran is an artist and arts worker, whose practice investigates liminal identity, relating her environments through spatial and cultural investigations of selfhood, and Sri Lankan Tamil-Australian cultures.
Olivia Welch is Exhibitions Manager at Museums & Galleries of NSW, developing touring exhibitions and associated sector development.
Brian Obiri-Asare is a creative writer of Ghanaian descent, with a particular focus on engaging with the complexities and contradictions of a multiracial society.
Elyse Goldfinch is an arts curator and writer with a career focus on advocacy, collaboration, exchange and support for artists across generations.
Zoe Theodore is a Sydney-based curator, producer and writer, with a particular interest in the relationship between performance, choreography and the gallery.
Laura Couttie is an arts manager, writer and curator. Over the past ten years Laura has worked in creative, administrative and management roles in a variety of galleries and arts organisations.
Holly Farrell is a Newcastle-based creative producer, with extensive experience coordinating multidisciplinary arts festivals and community led projects.
Dennis Golding is a Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist from the north west of NSW, born and raised in Sydney.
June Golland is a Central West NSW-based artist working across sculpture, installation and textiles. She is a founding member of WAYOUT artist collective, developing and delivering professional opportunities for regional artists.
M. Sunflower is a culturally diverse Australian artist who identifies as living with disabilities. She is founder and curating contributor of Off The Wall Gallery, Sydney, an outdoor and online exhibiting initiative centred on creating opportunities for marginalised artists, including those living with physical and mental disability.
Gillian Kayrooz is an artist whose practice reflects both her personal experience of and ongoing engagement with the local personas, neighbourhoods, cultural motifs and movements of Western Sydney.
Heather Tralaggan is a curator and arts professional living and working on Gadigal land. In 2017 she co-founded Collab Gallery at Pine Street Creative Arts Centre, a curatorially-supported exhibition space for emerging artists.
Julia Mendel is a creative producer whose work is focused on socially engaged practices and community led projects.
Athena Thebus is an artist who works with Desire.
Jamey Nguyen is a Sydney-based marketing professional who works closely with local commercial and contemporary artists.
Ngayu niliwal Georgia Mokak, and I am a proud Djugun woman from Broome, gular Kimberley region.
Michael Sun is a writer and designer whose work focuses on the intersections between queerness, memory, and technology.
Claudia Roosen is an arts worker with a background in advocacy and engagement and a passion for creating holistically inclusive spaces.
Ohni Blu is an emerging artist, curator and events producer currently based in Sydney, Australia.
Yuki Kawakami is a creative producer who is interested in socially inclusive community-led projects and supporting career-pathway opportunities for young people in the arts.
Hannah Jenkins is an arts writer and poet specialising in digital platforms and online writing experiments.
Thea Anamara Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman with an emerging painting and installation practice.
Founding Roger Crawford, Paul Saint, Tess Horwitz, Narelle Jubelin
Adam Weiderman, Adriane Boag, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Alex Cyreszko, Alex Gawronski, Alex Kiers, Alexandra Clapham, Alice McAuliffe, Amelia Wallin, Amy Griffiths, Andrew Brooks, Andrew Moran, Astrid Kriening, Athena Thebus, Brenda MacDuff, Bridie Moran, Camille Serisier, Cassy Sutherland, Catherine Connolly, Cathy Nunn, Claudia Roosen, Connie Anthes, Consuelo Cavaniglia, Cy Norman, Daniel Green, Dara Gill, David Capra, David Lawrey, Debbie Pryor, Di Smith, Dylan Quirk, Elliott Bryce Foulkes, Elizabeth Reidy, Elvis Richardson, Emma White, EO Gill, Eva Morosy Weide, Flora Grant, George Dann, Georgia Hobbs, Georgia Mokak, Georgie Meagher, Gianni Wise, Gina Mobayed, Grace Archibald, Harley Ives, Helena Leslie, Helen Hyatt Jonson, Holly Williams, Ingrid Mills, Jacqueline Millner, Jade Muratore, Jaki Middleton, Jamey Nguyen, Jana Hawkins-Andersen, Jane Gillespie, Jane Polkinghorne, Janet Shanks, Jay Hastings, JD Reforma, Jess Olivieri, Jessica Tyrrell, Joanne McCambridge, Julia Mendel, Julie Burke, Justin Balmain, Justine Youssef, Kate Scardifield, Kate Britton, Kathryn Gray, Katie Kaars, Katie Winten, Katy Plummer, Kelly Doley, Lea Barnett, Lionel Bawden, Liz Reid, Lydia Rodrigues, Maggie Brink, Marley Dawson, Michael Moran, Michaela Gleave, Mikala Dwyer, Nadia Hernández, Nairn Scott, Nathan Dunne, Nicholas Folland, Nina Machielse, Ohni Blu, Paul Williams, Penelope Benton, Peter Fitzpatrick, Peter H. Johnson, Philipa Veitch, Rowena Hall, Sara Oscar, Sarah Goffman, Sean Rafferty, Sharon Ragget, Sidney McMahon, Simone Douglas, Sonny Day, Spence Messih, Tahjee Moar, Tanya Peterson, Tesha Malott, Tess Knight, Tian Zhang, Tulleah Pearce, Vaughan O’Connor, Virginia Ross, Vicky Clare, Will French, Wilna Fourie