Behind the Art

Artist, Darren Blackman, in conversation with Nickeema Williams, First Nations Art Assistant at RMOA in 2025. Blackman's work is on display in State of the Art: Reimagining Queensland from 19 July - 12 October 2025.The exhibition is an introspective and memory-honouring consideration of Queensland. Showcasing Queensland artists, it contests and explores the idea of the State in all of its conceptual and geographical character. Artists blur borders to clarify the meaning of Queensland through stories about people and places before and since colonisation. This diverse assembly of Queensland artists remind us of who and where we come from, and explore where we are going.Featuring James Bourbon, Darren Blackman, Rachel Burke, Ruth Cho, Jamie Congdon, Ernest Garrett, Naomi Hobson, Seinileva Huakau, Tara Lewis, Noel McKenna, Wendy Mocke, Sally Molloy, Glen O'Malley, Teho Ropeyarn, Joel Sam, Clare Jaque Vasquez, Judy Watson, and Keemon Williams.Co-curated by Robert Connell, Ashla Doherty, Melinda Mann, Jonathan McBurnie, Tessa McIntosh and Emily Wakeling.

Join Dr Melinda Mann, First Nations Art Officer at RMOA, for a conversation with writers Daniel Kielly-Davis, Kusangalala Mkoka and Melissa Mills. Learn about how these three Central Queensland-based creative writers were commissioned to write and perform a poem in respose to D Harding's artwork, ‘Wall Composition on Darumbal' (25 February 2022 - 20 July 2025), and listen to them read their poetic works. Video documenting this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2fUTxYzAs4

Artist, Remy Faint, in conversation with Dr Melinda Mann, First Nations Art Officer at RMOA. Faint's work is on display in Artists in CQ: Of the Region  from 5 April - 3 August 2025. The exhibition brings together the art practices of several artists, presenting a multi-disciplinary conversation about national identity and the acknowledgement of Asian cultures as an enduring component of Australian culture. Featuring work by Ping Carlyon, Jacky Chan, Remy Faint, Qing Huang, Hanbing Lu and Anitha Menon. Curated by Robert Connell and Emily Wakeling.About Remy FaintSydney based artist Remy Faint explores global and personal histories through painting, assemblage and collage, expanding the idea of painting to create works that could also be considered objects. Faint's European paternal family studied and worked in schools throughout Central Queensland, where visiting family is reflected on as a meaningful part of his life. Like many who came to this area seeking new possibilities, Faint's maternal family immigrated to Australia from the Guangzhou province in China to the Victorian goldfields in 1878. Facing discrimination and economic challenges family decedents spread across Australia, such as working in Sydney markets, frequently trading produce with East Coast and Central Queensland vendors.

Learn more about artist Phoebe Paradise in this conversation with Jonathan McBurnie. Phoebe delivered two workshops at RMOA during 2025 and her work, FORTRESS, was exhibited in Maximum Madness at RMOA in 2024.About Phoebe ParadisePhoebe Paradise is a multi-disciplinary artist, musician and designer based in Brisbane, Australia; specialising in illustration, murals and public art installations. Phoebe's practice explores the everyday poetics and visual identity of her hometown through surreal architectural renderings and suburban tableaus that border on speculative science fiction. Often playful and dripping with nostalgia, Phoebe's body of work is hyper-niche, yet elicits a universal sense of belonging that has captured the imagination of her broad audience. 

Artist in Residence, Gail Meyer, in conversation with Helen Kavanagh. Learn more about Meyer's four week residency at RMOA and how works from the Collection inspired new directions in her artistic practice. About Gail MeyerMeyer is a Rockhampton-based artist with a practice spanning more than 20 years. Meyer's relationship to her hometown Rockhampton, Central Queensland, on Darumbal Country, continues to inform her art-making. Exploring the attachment of memory and place with familiar environments, presents a challenge in representing the familiar in a new way, and not just pictorially.Meyer undertook formal studies in visual art at Central Queensland University from 2000 to 2002 in drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and since then has diversified her practice further by attending a range of skills development workshops in the contemporary genre tutored by notable Australian artists such as Tim Storrier, Idris Murphy, Andrew Antoniou, David Fairbairn, Peter Sharp, and Jo Furlonger at an annual artist's retreat in Central Queensland. Creating a wide range of visual stimulation and discussion around her work is the driving force behind her practice.Meyer creates dynamic, immersive artworks, where ‘place' is not only a source of inspiration but a way of connecting to others and expressing her identity and connection to the world.  A deep respect and sensitivity for the landscape of Darumbal Country is expressed through richly layered mixed media artworks that are joyful and whimsical. 

Artists in Residence, LeLarnie Hatfield and Joanna Joy, in conversation with Dr Melinda Mann, First Nations Art Officer at RMOA. Learn about how Hatfield and Joy's collaborative film project took inspiration from RMOA's Collection during their residency. About LeLarnie Hatfield and Joanna JoyLeLarnie Hatfield and Joanna Joy are collaborating on a project that seeks to turn the written works of poet and activist Judith Wright into a television series. The project will be set in Central Queensland and both filmmakers want to ensure local community perspectives are considered in the “World-building” of this series.  “World-building” refers to the process of creating a world within a film or TV show, including the characters, locations and events. To ensure the world of the project is reflective of Central Queensland's multi-lingual, multi-cultural history the artists are inviting local members of the community to share their perspectives throughout their residency.  Hatfield and Joy are a creative duo who have spent the past four years collaborating on the creation of cross-cultural representations in film. Shot on Darumbal Country, their most recent work ‘Generations of Men' has screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Flickerfest, Brisbane International Film Festival, Darwin International Film Festival and St Kilda Film Festival. This residency seeks to continue their long term creative collaboration on Darumbal Country. Hatfield has a long history of cultural leadership and facilitation. Whilst her most recent work uses the medium of film - the nature of Hatfield's cultural and community leadership has led her to work across dance, animation, literature and photography. Most recently nominated for the Kearney Group First Nations Film Creative Award at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Hatfield is an emerging practitioner who has already created a cultural impact with her work. Joy is an interdisciplinary artist with a passion for intersectional storytelling. Joy's practice centers itself on community collaboration. Outside of Darumbal Enterprise, Joy has spent the last three years working within the Bus Stop Films community - facilitating accessible filmmaking and inclusive film sets. Most recently selected for the Accelerator Film Lab at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Joy is an emerging practitioner with growing recognition in the industry. Together these two artists combine their respective expertise and shared interest in facilitation to collaborate on the birth of their latest development. Returning to RMOA is a “full-circle” moment for these artists who have spent many hours taking inspiration from the newly built space and exhibitions.  

Artist in Residence, Ainslie McMahon, in conversation with Easton Dunne. Learn more about McMahon's art practice and her four week residency at RMOA. About Ainslie McMahon Ainslie McMahon is an artist based in Rockhampton on Darumbal Country whose work responds to the natural environment and the effect of nature on the human psyche. McMahon describes her work as being defined by a strong connection to Central Queensland, reflecting a sensitivity to the rhythms of the local landscape, including universal themes of fragility and strength, growth and destruction.McMahon studied visual art at Central Queensland University and graduated in 2003 with a Diploma of Visual Art, majoring in painting. Since that time McMahon has exhibited widely in regional Queensland and facilitated numerous community art workshops in Queensland and Northern Territory. She has undertaken artistic residencies at various primary schools in Rockhampton. McMahon also created and presented a weekly preschool art program at Rockhampton Art Gallery called Messy Mondays, as well as community workshops and STEAM programs at Rockhampton Art Gallery.McMahon's practice involves a balance between intuitive mark-making and careful deliberation. She says, "I try to discover possibilities, rather than force the painting to a preconceived conclusion. Colour choice and expressive mark making are important to me. Building up layers, and scratching back to reveal what is below creates an opportunity for the unexpected to reveal itself, and allows me to find my own visual language."

Artist in Residence, Jodie van de Wetering, joins Easton Dunne for a conversation discussing their four week residency at RMOA. Learn more about how artworks selected from the Collection inspired the play that they worked on throughout their residency. About Jodie van de Wetering Jodie van de Wetering is a writer, performer and generator of creative chaos based on Darumbal Country in Rockhampton. Their laid-back storytelling style and sardonic wit is inspired by bush poets and yarnspinners, growing up with repeats of Doctor Who and The Goodies as babysitters, and being the generation that started school with rotary-dial phones and graduated with MySpace accounts. Jodie's work reflects their confusing tangle of identities: neurodivergent, nonbinary, disabled, a solidly working class second-generation Australian, a hopeful dreamer and a grumpy grouch.van de Wetering's work has concentrated largely on live performance, including stand up comedy, improv, and theatre both conventional and experimental. They have been part of several live comedy tours of Central Queensland organised by event producer Anna Brennan, and have performed at local events including Beef Australia, River Festival, and the Village Festival. They have several film credits to their name, working with Capricorn Coast-based Blue Eagle Productions on improv comedy web series Koch & Boules, feature film Lost and Found, and several short films.van de Wetering was born in Rockhampton and raised in the rural community of The Caves. After leaving the region to work for the ABC, they returned in 2013 and have since become an active member of the region's arts community. They organised Allsorts Open Mic, an open-access event providing stage time for new and emerging performers, and continue to support other local artists of all kinds while continuing their own practice.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the KenDone: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the KenDone: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the KenDone: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the KenDone: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Artist in Residence Melissa Mills speaks with Easton Dunne about her practice and the work she's making during her residency at RMOA. Melissa Mills Melissa Mills is a photographer whose cultural inheritance is the innate connection and grounding she has with her Ancestral homelands of the Ghungulu, Karingbal/Garingbal and Bidjara Peoples of the Central Queensland regions. Mills' photographic practice is underpinned by a commitment to working collaboratively with her subjects to craft photographic narratives together that allow subjects to feel empowered to share the story of who they are through the images captured. Mills has been photographing professionally since 2015, has won international awards, and holds International Accreditation as an Associate Photographer with The Portrait Masters.

Artist Julie Fragar speaks with RMOA Director Jonathan McBurnie about her show Biograph, which was also curated by Jonathan. Biograph is the first career survey of Fragar's work. Mapping more than twenty years of practice, the exhibition assembles key works made between 1998 and 2021, including some previously unexhibited. The survey is arranged according to key ongoing themes for the artist, including biography, memory, identity and narrative. This major retrospective of Fragar's distinctive style will tour between galleries in Queensland.

Hamish Sawyer speaks with Emily Wakeling about the Bayton Award 2023. Hamish Sawyer is a curator, writer and currently the Artistic Director of NorthSite Contemporary Arts, Cairns.

Anitha Menon talks with Easton Dunne about her practice and inspirations from the RMOA collection during her time as artist in residence at the museum.

Pat Hoffie speaks with Jonathan McBurnie about her involvement in the WrestleMANIA exhibition. Hoffie discusses the biblical influences, as well as that of outsider artist Henry Darger, in her large scale paintings. Touching upon her artistic process, Brisbane's Festival Hall (once a key venue for pro wrestling for Queensland) and conspiracy theory, Hoffie offers fascinating insight into studio practice.

Locust Jones speaks about his large scale drawings made for WrestleMANIA. Jones' pieces are made as realtime responses to the global news cycle, and circumnavigate the artist's sense of outrage, the absurd and tragedy, trying to make sense of the static. Jones discusses his early experiences of televised wrestling during his New Zealand childhood and incorporating its larger-than-life iconography into his larger-than-life drawings.

Erica Gray speaks about her textile installation exhibited in WrestleMANIA. Gray plays with the theatrical, performative aspects of Wrestlers and their audiences to create a vivid representation of the (melo)drama of wrestling.

Bruce Reynolds discusses his work for WrestleMANIA. With an enduring interest in the antiquity and remix culture, Reynolds reflects upon his limited childhood experience with television and, through it, wrestling.

Peter Hudson in conversation with Jonathan McBurnie

Euan Macleod in conversation with Jonathan McBurnie Euan Macleod was featured in the exhibit WrestleMANIA at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2022-2023. This episode explores MacLeod's experience and thought process on creating his work, particularly diving into his personal connection to wrestling and how it inspires him to create.

William Debois is one of two artists in residence at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2023 in the Margaret Olley Art Trust Collection Study Room. This episode explores Debois' experiences during his four-week residency at RMOA responding to selected artworks from the Collection. Debois is a French/Australian photographer who has been based in Gladstone since 2013, on the lands of the Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng and Taribelang Bunda peoples. Debois' photographic career spans more than twenty-five years and four different countries. https://www.rmoa.com.au/Learn/The-Margaret-Olley-Art-Trust-Collection-Study-Room/2023-Artists-in-Residence/William-Debois-Artist-in-Residence

Ed Luce in conversation with Jonathan McBurnie Ed Luce was featured in the exhibition WrestleMANIA at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2022-23. This episode explores his artistic and personal journey with wrestling, taking a look at the inspiration for his art, Jim ‘The Anvil' Neidhart, and the process of making a work for WrestleMANIA.

Claudia Husband in conversation with Emily Wakeling Claudia Husband is Registrar at the Museum of Brisbane. She discusses her role as a registrar, caring for the collections, and installing collections with Emily Wakeling. This episode dives into the history of art and collecting in Brisbane, on the occasion of RMOA hosting Museum of Brisbane's Easton Pearson Archive.

Join us for a conversation with Cutler Footway, this conversation discusses the inspirations behind his practice as well as art that he has seen on his travels, most recently on a trip to Europe.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 12: From a Burdekin Studio: Anders S as Christ at the Column From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 11: Mark K, in the Burdekin From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 10: A Young Sculptor, Jack Betteridge Costumed as an Elf: Don't F. With Me, Fellas! From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 9: Large Still Life with Vase, Fruits, and Frangipani From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 8: Life Drawings From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 7: Painting on an Easel II From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 6: A Brush with Landscape - between Ayr and Townsville From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 5: Rain Coming - My Father From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 4: Boy from the Bottoms Up Bar From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 3: Marcus Leutscher with Cane Fire, Figurine, Flowers, and Skull From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 2: Introduction From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 1: Welcome From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

Join us for a conversation with Benjamin Scott about his experience as an artist in residence at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2022. Scott was one of three artists hailing from Central Queensland who selected artworks from RMOA's nationally significant collection to study more closely during their four-week residencies in the Margaret Olley Art Trust Collection Study Room at Rockhampton Museum of Art. The residencies were designed to provide artists with time and space to develop new directions in their practice and build new audiences, while being paid, and with the support of a range of staff across RMOA's teams. Each artist participated in an artist talk, recorded a conversation for Behind the Art, and held weekly open studios where members of the public could meet the artist and learn more about how artists work in their studios. Learn more about Ben's residency. This project was made possible by the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.

Join us for a conversation with Julia Higgs about her experience as an artist in residence at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2022. Higgs was one of three artists hailing from Central Queensland who selected artworks from RMOA's nationally significant collection to study more closely during their four-week residencies in the Margaret Olley Art Trust Collection Study Room at Rockhampton Museum of Art. The residencies were designed to provide artists with time and space to develop new directions in their practice and build new audiences, while being paid, and with the support of a range of staff across RMOA's teams. Each artist participated in an artist talk, recorded a conversation for Behind the Art, and held weekly open studios where members of the public could meet the artist and learn more about how artists work in their studios. Learn more about Julia's residency. This project was made possible by the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.

Join us for a conversation between international artist, Joachim Froese, and Emily Wakeling, Curator at Rockhampton Museum of Art, during Froese's recent exhibition of photographic work at RMOA, "Echoes of Process". Queensland photographer Joachim Froese's technical expertise of the varied mechanics of photography inform a conceptual approach to the medium, often dealing with the role of photography in shaping the known world. The exhibition features several key series that raise environmental concerns, amongst them ‘Entangled', his recent series of salt prints that depict close-ups of seedlings he grows in his garden, and a new photographic installation that re-interprets panorama visions taken by NASA's Mars rovers. Raised in Germany and based in Brisbane and Berlin, Joachim Froese has been a practicing artist and educator for over three decades. He holds a PhD from RMIT University, Melbourne, and has lectured in photography at the Queensland College of Art and other tertiary institutions in Australia and Germany. His works are held by the National Gallery of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, and several regional Queensland galleries.

Sharon Kirk in conversation with Easton Dunne - Behind the Art

Join us for a conversation between artist, Karen Stephens, and Jonathan McBurnie, Director of Rockhampton Museum of Art. Stephens is an Australian-born artist based in remote Queensland. Working predominantly in the field of Australian landscape painting, her immersion in the environment informs a sustained investigation of the outback landscape, and she uses its inner regions as fertile ground to explore the personal as the universal. She was one of three artists selected to exhibit in Here We Meet, which illustrated and celebrated the region's connectedness and long history of cooperation and collaboration, bringing together works by Karen Stephens, Belynda Waugh and Veronika Zeil. Each artist lives and works in regional Queensland with their work exploring concepts of place, the environment and celebrating what Central Queensland as a community represents. This project was made possible by the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.

Join us as we explore over the next half hour the career of Kim Withers, Rockhampton Museum of Art Business and Development Supervisor. Bianca Acimovic, Rockhampton Museum of Art Director speaks with Kim Withers about how the coming together of her creative practice and career has laid a path for her recent appointment to the role of Rockhampton Museum of Art Business and Development Supervisor in the later part of 2020. Kim brings together her extensive experience in budgeting, financial management and strategic financial planning and more recent experience of gallery operations management, visitor engagement and retail management. For Kim this position is the perfect alignment of her business career and creative practice. It provides a platform to build a legacy and make a real contribution to the Community where she has grown up. Kim aims to use her skills to be the business person for the creatives and artists and provide them with opportunities to earn a sustainable living from their arts practice.

Join us as we delve in to the history of Rockhampton Art Gallery, through the life and memories of Merilyn Luck, the longest serving trustee for Rockhampton Art Gallery Trust. Bianca Acimovic, Rockhampton Museum of Art Director speaks with Merilyn Luck OAM. Merilyn Luck (nee Beak) has made an outstanding contribution to her local community of Rockhampton through her involvement and support of the Arts, the Anglican Church, Central Queensland University and both Grammar Schools. Merilyn's involvement with the Rockhampton Art Gallery began in the late 1970s when she was one of the inaugural donors to establish an art collection. Her enthusiastic efforts have contributed to the institution now having one of regional Queensland's most significant and valuable art collections, home to work by significant Australian artists. Merilyn became a Trustee of the Rockhampton Art Gallery Trust in 1994 and was appointed Chair in 2007 before retiring in 2016.