Aboriginal Arts Officers are the lifeblood of support for First Nations Artists from Regional NSW, they are a vital part of the art eco-system and have been the often unrecognised driver behind the success and growth of individual artists and collaborations that have allowed artists to showcase and sell their works while building their professional development.

Join Wiradjuri women and Regional Arts Stalwart Jamie-Lea Trindall as she speaks with 3 Aboriginal Arts Officers from the network about their experiences, drivers and the amazing outcomes they have achieved while also finding out about how you can be supported by these skilled workers.

Jamie-Lea is a Wiradjuri woman and artist who lives and works on Wailwan country, Coonamble NSW. With over a decade of experience as our Executive Director here at Outback Arts, her time is split between curating exhibitions, delivering community projects, raising two little girls and spending time in the Coonamble Ceramics Studio. Career highlights include; 2020 Linea Nation, exhibition Koskela Rosebery, 2015 collateral Exhibition Venice Biennale ‘Country’, 2013 ‘String Theory’ MCA Sydney. Recurring themes across Jamie-Lea’s artwork and designs are of connection to the land, reflecting soft and tactile natural elements through the earthy texture of clay using native grasses and designs inspired by native birdlife.

The Aboriginal Culture, Heritage & Arts Association Inc (ACHAA) has been established with facilitation by M&G NSW to support Aboriginal owned cultural venues in NSW. It is a key recommendation from the 2011 summit Keeping places & beyond: building cultural futures in NSW organised by M&G NSW and was unanimously further endorsed by community consultations.

Join Wiradjuri Man and key driver behind ACHAA Steve Miller while he delivers a panel discussion with Culture Centre and Keeping Place operators.

Panel Chair Steve Miller is a Wiradjuri man with almost 30 years’ experience in Aboriginal arts, culture and heritage. In his nominal role as Aboriginal Programs Manager for Museums & galleries of NSW he is also the General Manager for the NSW Aboriginal Culture, Heritage & Arts Association Inc.

Proud Gumbaynggirr woman Alison Williams is Director of Wadjar Gallery at the Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Corindi Beach, north of Coffs Harbour. Born in Sydney and growing up around Wollongong, Alison always harboured a feeling of belonging to her mother’s family and country, the northern lowlands of Gumbaynggirr Nation. It was this sense of belonging that brought her to the North Coast of NSW to settle, establish a studio and continue her artistic and professional development, strengthening roots within the community to teach, advocate, support family and artistic practice in regional NSW.

Anaiwan woman Rose Lovelock is the Director of the Armidale Aboriginal Cultural Centre with a background in academic research and higher education (UNE). Rose experienced first-hand the effects of intergenerational impacts of the stolen generation practices. These early childhood experiences led to Rose’s desire to use her higher education and research experience to develop teaching skills and practices that drive self-determination and self-management in Aboriginal communities. In her current role, Rose is passionate about building relationships between communities by improving access for the wider community to the Aboriginal arts and ceremonies presented at the Centre.

Biripi woman Nicole Chaffey comes from a background in Fine Arts and is a Newcastle local. Alongside an established studio practice her postgraduate studies into contemporary Aboriginal experience, furthered by University of Newcastle Industry Scholars and MGNSW/Arts NSW Aboriginal Emerging Leaders mentorships, led her career towards curation and creative programming at the University of Newcastle and MAC (Museum of Art and Culture) yapang, Lake Macquarie. In 2018 she was appointed Director of Baluk Arts, a not-for-profit Aboriginal Art Centre on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. She returned to Newcastle in 2021 to become Murrook Culture Centre Director to establish an industry-leading museum and visitor experience space.

First Nations Fashions is in boom stage and celebrated Bundjalung woman and renowned multi-disciplinary artist Kylie Caldwell has leveraged this growing industry to release a fashion line in collaboration with a focus on culture, sustainability and quality. Join Kylie as she speaks with 3 other Regional Aboriginal First Nations artists who are taking the fashion the fashion world by storm.

Bundjalung artist Kylie Caldwell is an ardent weaver and fibre artist, interested in reviving and pursuing traditional cultural practices that her ancestors have used over thousands of years, rediscovering these ancient Bundjalung crafts and threading them into the modern world. Caldwell seeks to soak up the knowledge and wisdom from Bundjalung Jargoon (country), utilising varies modes to deepen and expand her own cultural creative expression and knowledge.

Caldwell is committed to growing traditional weaving through both the ancient form and contemporary artistry to represent an enduring Bundjalung identity.

Regional and Remote NSW should be recognised for the AMAZING First Nations Musicians that call this home, during this panel Aunty Glennys Briggs will talk with 3 very different but very well known and inspiring Aboriginal Singers, Song Writers and Musicians who have spent their life dedicated to music that inspires, provokes thought and changes the lives of our people.

Glennys Briggs is a First Nations artist. She is a Taungwurrung – Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri woman. She grew up on a First Nations reserve called Cummeragunja on the banks of the Murray River. Practicing Printmaking, painting and sculptural pieces and possum skin cloak making. The cultural influences in her work reflect the strong connection to her people and country. Like a time-lapse photograph, her work is ever changing to reveal a long history. Glennys holds a BA in Indigenous Contemporary Art and History.

Glennys has been a feature of exhibitions in Australia, China, France and Hawaii. Her artworks are in the collections of University of Central Queensland, Redlands Art Gallery, Gold Coast Art Gallery and the Shandong University. Also in private collections across Australia and Overseas. She is currently the curator of Burraja Gallery, Albury. This is a gallery for local Indigenous Artists. She has also been accepted as a Fellow with the State Library of Victoria.

This award winning artists hop is that the work she is presenting goes some way towards achieving a understanding and awareness of the shared history of this country. Thus giving voice to our Ancestors. Her family and extended family is very important to her. She is a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She has worked in Indigenous organisations for about 30 years and knows the issues her people face each day.

She has lectured and tutor at the Griffith University, Gold Coast campus, taught printmaking for secondary students, runs workshops for children and also fellow artists and for the public. Glennys and he partner are also professional singers, travelling across mainland Australia, Tasmania, across to USA and to Iran with their music.