“I grew up in Lismore and went to Kadina High. Dad had a camera shop in town back in the 80’s. I got into Photography and Art through the shop and I did art at school.
I finished Year 12 and like a lot of young ones I couldn’t wait to get out. I jumped on a bus, went to Sydney and completed 3 years at Sydney College of the Arts in Photography. I also did some work with MCA doing events and other jobs around at the time. I think the commercial side of things back then when going to Art school was quite shunned so I did find it hard to get back into the swing of making art without having the facilities like darkrooms. It was very different back then.
I worked some time in the camera shop and at one stage I drove the Monorail. It wasn’t a great job but I could work at night and the pay was pretty good.
I spent some time in the Solomon Islands doing community based work in about 1993 so I was about 23 at the time. I actually met my current wife there. I think that was a transformative time for me. Coming back to Sydney after being in the Solomons was quite a shock. When I came back I wanted to keep working in community based work so I did quite a few volunteer type jobs mixed with art practise and I became excited by that idea of trying to meld those two things.
My wife finished her degree and got a job in Townsville so we moved up there for 3 years which I loved. I walked into the gallery there and asked if they needed help and basically that’s pretty much how my whole career went. I hung exhibitions and gradually over time I managed their permanent collection, curated a few small things and got involved in the broader art scene. I was on the board for the contemporary art space which is still running in Townsville. I think it gave me the impetus to pick up my photography practise a bit more.
We left after 3 years and spent a year travelling overseas. When we returned we spent the next 6 years on the Gold Coast and then 3 years in Newcastle after that.
Each time I moved for my wife’s work and each time I lucked out in getting the perfect job in the regional galleries. The day I got back from overseas I bought the paper and there was a job for Curator at the Gold Coast Art Gallery. I checked my emails and the Director had emailed me the day before. I loved the Gold coast. I found where we were had a strong sense of community. We had young kids at the time and life revolved around the beach so it was perfect at the time.
I started here in the Lismore Regional Gallery in January 2010. I had only worked as a curator before so I sort of doubted that I had the capacity to take the step up to Director. At the time I was excited by the prospect of the new gallery as that was all in the pipeline.
I have 3 boys between 9 and 15 who are settled here in school. I think I’m here now for a long time. If I was going to leave I would have already left.
This Saturday is the opening day of our new gallery which is exciting. I think it’s just starting to sink in that we made it. We have some great things coming up including some International artists.
One thing though with the old building we were in with all its restrictions, it did push us to be a bit more creative with how we worked. The Peggy PopArt program stemmed from the fact that it was sort of a tough building to manage kids. We had this art program for kids that ran for a year in the cafe there when it was vacant. It grew and became popular so when the cafe was taken over again we had to re look at that. Jasmine, who was running it at the time couldn’t do it any longer and we were so restricted in the gallery space. We talked to Claudie about developing a character who could marshal the kids and still make it fun. She came up with the idea of Peggy PopArt.
We couldn’t really take travelling shows in the old space so it pushed us into having our own identity and developing our own exhibitions. I don’t really want to lose that flavour here as well by still honouring that local story telling but being able to bring more than we were able to previously.”
I finished Year 12 and like a lot of young ones I couldn’t wait to get out. I jumped on a bus, went to Sydney and completed 3 years at Sydney College of the Arts in Photography. I also did some work with MCA doing events and other jobs around at the time. I think the commercial side of things back then when going to Art school was quite shunned so I did find it hard to get back into the swing of making art without having the facilities like darkrooms. It was very different back then.
I worked some time in the camera shop and at one stage I drove the Monorail. It wasn’t a great job but I could work at night and the pay was pretty good.
I spent some time in the Solomon Islands doing community based work in about 1993 so I was about 23 at the time. I actually met my current wife there. I think that was a transformative time for me. Coming back to Sydney after being in the Solomons was quite a shock. When I came back I wanted to keep working in community based work so I did quite a few volunteer type jobs mixed with art practise and I became excited by that idea of trying to meld those two things.
My wife finished her degree and got a job in Townsville so we moved up there for 3 years which I loved. I walked into the gallery there and asked if they needed help and basically that’s pretty much how my whole career went. I hung exhibitions and gradually over time I managed their permanent collection, curated a few small things and got involved in the broader art scene. I was on the board for the contemporary art space which is still running in Townsville. I think it gave me the impetus to pick up my photography practise a bit more.
We left after 3 years and spent a year travelling overseas. When we returned we spent the next 6 years on the Gold Coast and then 3 years in Newcastle after that.
Each time I moved for my wife’s work and each time I lucked out in getting the perfect job in the regional galleries. The day I got back from overseas I bought the paper and there was a job for Curator at the Gold Coast Art Gallery. I checked my emails and the Director had emailed me the day before. I loved the Gold coast. I found where we were had a strong sense of community. We had young kids at the time and life revolved around the beach so it was perfect at the time.
I started here in the Lismore Regional Gallery in January 2010. I had only worked as a curator before so I sort of doubted that I had the capacity to take the step up to Director. At the time I was excited by the prospect of the new gallery as that was all in the pipeline.
I have 3 boys between 9 and 15 who are settled here in school. I think I’m here now for a long time. If I was going to leave I would have already left.
This Saturday is the opening day of our new gallery which is exciting. I think it’s just starting to sink in that we made it. We have some great things coming up including some International artists.
One thing though with the old building we were in with all its restrictions, it did push us to be a bit more creative with how we worked. The Peggy PopArt program stemmed from the fact that it was sort of a tough building to manage kids. We had this art program for kids that ran for a year in the cafe there when it was vacant. It grew and became popular so when the cafe was taken over again we had to re look at that. Jasmine, who was running it at the time couldn’t do it any longer and we were so restricted in the gallery space. We talked to Claudie about developing a character who could marshal the kids and still make it fun. She came up with the idea of Peggy PopArt.
We couldn’t really take travelling shows in the old space so it pushed us into having our own identity and developing our own exhibitions. I don’t really want to lose that flavour here as well by still honouring that local story telling but being able to bring more than we were able to previously.”