Arts NT eBulletin Issue#15 - 23 September 2009
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STAFF NEWS: Arts NT welcome NRETAS Acting Executive Director, Mr Matt Darcey and Central Australian Regional Arts Broker, Mr Darren Pfitzner.
Acting Executive Director Environment, Heritage and the Arts: Mr Matt Darcey
Mr Matt Darcey comes to the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport (NRETAS) from the Primary Industry Division, Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources (DPIFR). Matt has many talents, most recently in farming and agriculture, but he has always had an interest in the Arts and is a ‘closet’ painter and sculptor.
Matt was accepted to undertake tertiary studies in Fine Arts at the WA Institute of Technology after winning a scholarship at a 'special arts school' in WA for his Secondary Education and placing in the top 10 per cent of art students in 1979. However he decided to go farming instead, starting his career as a piggery sharefarmer, then to Jackeroo, managing farms in the wheat belt of Western Australia, Horticultural Researcher, Communication Manager and on to Director of an Industry Division. Matt has a Business Degree in Agriculture and a Masters of Executive Management.
Matt paints occasionally and particularly enjoys sculpture. With the use of his 'farm tools' including welders and drills etc, Matt combines both skill sets: “I am currently going through a phase of making steel candelabras that suit our friends' personalities. I enjoy creating generally and find making art cathartic.”
Matt applied for the position after realising that as Director Primary Industry Futures, mainly working with NRETAS on Natural Resource Management policy, he only brought one perspective to the debate: “This role gives me an opportunity to gain an understanding of NRETAS, its imperatives and culture - all the better to work together in future”.
In his new position, Matt hopes to “learn, listen, liaise and lead. Really to help the Directors and staff of the Environment, Heritage and the Arts division to achieve good outcomes for our stakeholders - both Government and the community". With particular reference to Arts NT, Matt hopes to add value to the work the unit does and looks forward to making connections with the arts sector in the NT.
Arts NT Regional Arts Broker: Mr Darren Pfitzner
Darren Pfitzner recently joined Arts NT in one of the newly created Regional Arts Broker positions in Central Australia. Darren is excited about this opportunity to work with artists and communities across the the region to develop opportunities for all Indigenous art forms. Darren’s background includes roles coordinating activities across the network of Desart art centres, including event managing the inaugural DanceSite to coincide with the DesertMob exhibition and more recently as Design and Production Manager with IAD Press which included coordinating the annual production of the Jukurrpa Calendar and Diaries. “This new role with ArtsNT is an exciting opportunity for me to build on existing networks across the region through ground level liaison and ongoing repour to identify and develop situations for artists and their communities to engage in programs and activities that offer greater cultural opportunities fostering life long learning in the arts.”
Darren’s work as a designer can be seen in the recently released Listen Deeply biography of Eastern Arrente artist Kathleen Kemarre Wallace and the seminal publication Lives of Papunya Tula Artists, for which he was shortlisted in the national publishing industry design awards. Previously he ran his design practise, A4Art in Adelaide where he worked with arts organisations ranging from community based to national and international, and included Unley Youth Theatre, Adelaide Festival of Arts and Meryl Tankard ADT. Darren has also undertaken post-graduate units in Event Management and in Arts Marketing.
REFLECTION: Arts NT Theatre and Performance Community Meeting
Arts NT hosted a community meeting to discuss Central Australian priorities and ideas for the development of theatre and the performing arts on Monday 5 October at Totem Theatre in Alice Springs.
This meeting follows the 2008 Arts NT and the Australia Council Review of Theatre and Performance in the NT.
Following on from a very successful 2009 Alice Desert Festival through the newly merged Red Hot Arts Central Australia, and acknowledging the success of Bite Size Theatre, the Cats Meow Cabaret and in anticipation of Morgan and Molly, Arts NT thought it timely to re-visit the recommendations and to test their relevance.
The Review was conducted by Justin MacDonnell and included consultations and open meetings in Alice Springs and Darwin. The final review report made 29 recommendations which were formally accepted by the Minister for Arts and Museums in January 2009. For the context of the Review and the key recommendations – please visit: http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/publications/artsnt/pdf/NTTheatreReport.pdf
The meeting was attended by 25 local dancers, performers, playwrights, directors, producers, actors and presenters. Also in attendance was Lyn Wallis, The Australia Councils Director of Theatre Lyn and Alex Ben-Mayor, Creative Producer of the new producer hub at Darwin’s Brown’s Mart.
The meeting was a great opportunity for the Alice Springs community to be heard and the outcome is a workshop to further the discussions of the future of Theatre and Performing arts in Central Australia.
UPDATE: Arts NT New Policy and Funding Framework
Pending approval, a new funding framework will be announced and open for applications before the end of the year.
See attached for eBulletin
- General News
- Darwin, Alice Springs, National and International Opportunities
- Northern Territory and National Positions Vacant
