NAVA announces Arts Day on the Hill participants

"This smart, ambitious group of artists and arts leaders work across the expanded field that comprises contemporary arts practice including First Nations arts and culture, craft, design, painting, photography, sculpture, curation and experimentation," said Esther Anatolitis, Executive Director. "I'm looking forward to spending good time with these leading thinkers and I can't wait to introduce them to our parliamentary decision-makers."

The eight participants are: Clare Armitage (NT), Selena de Carvalho (Tas), Nadeena Dixon (NSW), Shaun Edwards (Qld), Emma Fey (SA), Mish Grigor (Vic), Miranda Johnson (WA), Rebecca Selleck (ACT).

Clare Armitage (NT), Assistant Curator of Art at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory; Selena de Carvalho (Tas), experimental artist based in Lutruwrita; Nadeena Dixon (NSW), Gadigal/Wiradjuri/Yuin artist and master weaving practitioner based in Sydney; Shaun Edwards (Qld), Kokoberrin artist from Cape York known for his Wild Barra Clothing company; Emma Fey (SA), CEO of Guildhouse, South Australia's peak body for visual artists, craftspeople and designers; Mish Grigor (Vic), maker, writer, performer and co-director of APHIDS; Miranda Johnson (WA), founding member of Cool Change Contemporary ARI and Curatorial Assistant at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts; Rebecca Selleck (ACT), Canberra-based artist with a focus on interactive sculpture and installation.

NAVA leads policy, advocacy and action for a contemporary arts sector that's ambitious and fair. The three key pillars of our program focus on supporting artists, developing the industry and enriching the Australian culture. Arts Day on the Hill continues the work of August 2018's Future/Forward (held in Canberra at the NGA and Parliament House), and April 2019's Australian Cultural Policy: The Next Decade (held in Melbourne in partnership with Monash University's Masters of Cultural & Creative Industries), by engaging decision-makers in critical issues with expertise and urgency.

Arts Day on the Hill is NAVA's annual focus on national advocacy development for sustained government engagement with a long-term policy focus. This year's Arts Day on the Hill is Wednesday 31 July.

More Arts Day on the Hill details will be released in coming weeks.

PARTICIPANTS - BIOS

Clare Armitage

Clare Armitage has a Bachelor of Art Theory (Hons.) from the University of New South Wales, and has a Master of Art History and Curatorial studies from the Australian National University. She has worked in commercial art galleries in Sydney, Canberra and Darwin. Clare was the inaugural Australia Council for the Arts Curatorial Fellow at the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre in Katherine (NT), the inaugural Artback SPARK NT Curator and recently participated in the Australia Council for the Arts 2019 Venice Biennale Emerging Arts Professionals Program. She is currently the Assistant Curator of Art at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Clare is particularly interested in how curatorial work and storytelling can help us better understand our ecological and cultural heritage.

Selena de Carvalho

Selena is an award winning experimental artist based in Lutruwrita [Tasmania]. Her practice responds to notions of personal ecology and human interaction with the environment, often relating to the perceived consumption of wilderness and lived experiences of wildness, focusing on the core paradox of how we [humanity] yearn for the untamed, and yet in our desire to experience the wild, consciously or unconsciously seek to control it. This paradox operates as a framework for deeper inquiry within her practice, which unites numerous mediums including participatory installation, performance, workshops, sculpture, time-based media, urban hacking, print media and writing.

Nadeena Dixon

Nadeena is a Gadigal, Wiradjuri, Yuin artist based in Sydney NSW. Recognised as a master weaving practitioner within Indigenous Australian textile traditions, she has a strong focus on creating fibre sculpture works, incorporating object making within Indigenous symbology reflecting Indigenous knowledge, and also works across printmaking, sculpture, film, animation and installation. Nadeena has a postgraduate degree in Indigenous Arts Management at VCA University of Melbourne, Diploma Multi-Platform Production (interactive technology), and in 2017 completed a Masters in Fine Arts at UNSW Art & Design and received an Australian Design Honours from the Australian Design Centre. Nadeena is currently on the board of Boomalli Aboriginal Arts Co-operative, one of Australia's longest running Aboriginal owned and operated art galleries.

Shaun Edwards

Shaun is a Kokoberrin artist from Cape York. His artworks have been widely exhibited in Australian and in prominent collections. Known for his Wild Barra Clothing company. Launching his swimwear at the Australian Indigenous Fashion Week in 2014. Wild Barra was featured in Byron Bay International Fashion Week 2018.

Emma Fey

Emma is the CEO of Guildhouse, South Australia's peak body for visual artists, craftspeople and designers. Emma Fey joined Guildhouse two years ago, with a strong background in philanthropy, business development and communications in diverse sectors including the visual and performing arts, not-for-profit and education. In that time, Guildhouse has significantly grown its membership, expanded its cultural and commercial partnerships, and expanded initiatives for artistic career development for South Australian artists including mentorships, residencies, interest free loans and the Guildhouse Fellowship. Emma holds a Graduate Diploma in Art History from the University of Adelaide and a Bachelor of Management from the University of South Australia.

Mish Grigor

Mish is a maker, writer and performer. Using autobiographical tools, humour, and fiction, she is intent on problematising the frames of power from which art and identity emerge. Based in Melbourne since 2017, Mish has recently been announced co-director of APHIDS with Lara Thoms and Eugenia Lim.

Miranda Johnson

Miranda graduated with a Masters (Distinction) in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, London in 2015, and is a founding member of Cool Change Contemporary ARI. She currently works as Curatorial Assistant at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and is a regular contributor to local arts publication Seesaw Magazine.

Rebecca Selleck

Rebecca is a Canberra-based emerging artist with a focus on interactive sculpture and installation. She completed her Bachelor of Visual Arts at the ANU School of Art with First Class Honours, majoring in Sculpture and Art Theory, and also holds a Bachelor of Communications, majoring in Creative Writing and Literary Studies. She uses her practice to reciprocally investigate and challenge her own perceptions within a culture of conflicting truths. Her work overlays time and place to express the need for human accountability and the painful complexity of animal and environmental ethics in Australia.