MELBOURNE ART FOUNDATION BOARD MEMBERS
COMPANY DIRECTOR AND PHILANTHROPIST
Peter Jopling is a Melbourne-based King’s Counsel. Peter is the Chairman of the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Chair of the Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Foundation Ltd, Chair of Lucy Guerin Inc and Chair of the Melbourne University Humanities Foundation. Peter has been Deputy Chair of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, a Director of the McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, and Director of the National Gallery of Australia Foundation. Peter was a Patron of the Australian World Orchestra as well as a member of the Victorian College of the Arts Foundation and is a Director of Pinchgut Opera, Lux Australis and the Victorian Art Centre Foundation. Peter has also held directorships of science and business school boards as well as various legal governing boards. In 2014 Peter was made a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia for significant service to the law in Victoria and to the community.
FOUNDER/CREATIVE DIRECTOR
With over 20 years’ experience, Michaela has worked for some of the world’s leading brand and design companies, including Wolff Olins and Spin in London, and in 2016 was elected as a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI). In 2002, Michaela founded Round with Robert Nudds, a design practice that connects culture, commerce and creativity to deliver transformative brands across arts & culture, food & drink, hospitality, publishing, property, retail and architecture & design. Michaela currently sits as an advisor on boards for RMIT Design Hub and Ian Potter Museum of Art.
DIRECTOR OF MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Prior to the University of Melbourne, Rose was Director of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Powerhouse Museum), Australia’s contemporary museum for excellence and innovation in applied arts and sciences. Rose’s career includes a period at the Australia Council, where she held the position of Executive Director, Arts Development and Museum Victoria where she was responsible for commercial and audience growth across Museum Victoria’s highly successful venues. She is committed to building a thriving and dynamic arts sector and is Board member of Back to Back Theatre and Chunky Move.
FOUNDER/DIRECTOR, FJM PROPERTY AND FINI GROUP
Adrian Fini OAM is a prominent Perth business executive involved in property development and the arts. He was managing director of family company Fini Group. Following its merger with ASX-listed Mirvac in 2001, he became chief executive of the expanded Mirvac Fini Business. He was subsequently appointed an executive director of Mirvac Group, responsible for its development division before resigning in 2010 to concentrate on private business ventures through FJM property and the ‘reborn’ Fini Group. In July 2020, Fini Group and Linc Property merged their operations under the name Hesperia. Mr. Fini is a director of Perth Festival and the University of Western Australia Foundation. In 2016, Mr. Fini was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to the arts in Western Australia, and named the Western Australian of the Year.
PARTNER, CHARACTER + DISTINCTION
Kate Dinon is Partner at Character + Distinction, a brand strategy and growth consultancy specialising in strategic communications, partnership architecture, intellectual property commercialisation, and brand positioning. She brings more than 20 years of international experience across London, Zurich, and Australia, working with founders, VC- and PE-backed companies, and globally recognised brands. She is also the founder of Commissioned Editions and a Non-Executive Director of the Bradman Foundation.
DIRECTOR, MISTER KIRKY PRESS OFFICE
Andrew Kirk is the founder of Mister Kirky Press Office. Established in 2015 and building on 20 years experience in public relations and brand strategy, Andrew delivers purposeful storytelling and connection to a global roster of clients in design, art, culture, travel and hospitality.
ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS ADVOCATE
ARTIST & ARTSWORKER
Jack Wilkie-Jans is an established arts writer, multi-disciplinary artist, arts worker, and Aboriginal affairs advocate from Cape York Peninsula, based in Cairns/Gimuy, Queensland. After 12 years working across the contemporary First Nations visual arts sector (at all levels, domestically and internationally), in 2023 he launched his own consultancy practice: JWJ Consultancy. Professionally, Jack specialises in arts writing & review; policy guidance; governance and operational best, Cultural practice; artist representation; regional economic development; and land management. A Tribal Great-Grandson of Dr Thancoupie/Thanakupi Gloria Fletcher James AO, Jack is an Alumni of the National Gallery Leadership Program (2011). As an artist (painting, film and photography) his focus is on post-colonial narratives and non-Culturally specific artistic abstraction and exploration
OWNER/DIRECTOR, NICHOLAS THOMPSON GALLERY
Nicholas Thompson is the owner and director of Nicholas Thompson Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in Naarm/Melbourne, founded in 2015. Prior to opening the gallery, he was employed for a decade by several of Australia’s most esteemed art galleries, including Philip Bacon Galleries in Brisbane and Australian Galleries in Melbourne. Thompson is a graduate of the University of Queensland (BA Hons Art History) and the University of Melbourne (MA Curatorship). He is an approved valuer for the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program and a member of the Art Galleries Association of Australia. Since its opening, Nicholas Thompson Gallery has exhibited at every iteration of the Melbourne Art Fair.
COMPANY DIRECTOR AND ADVISOR
Alan Pigott is a non-executive director and advisor who brings experience in strategy, business planning, governance, people and culture to the Board. He has a deep working knowledge of the for-profit, not for profit sectors and public sectors. He is passionate about the visual arts sector in Australia.
Alan has held senior positions across all levels of government including the Premier’s Department of NSW and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Before joining the private sector, Alan was the Deputy Chief Executive of Job Futures, a significant provider of employment services managing Federal and State Government contracts across 166, often remote locations. He was previously Director Arts Development with the NSW Ministry for the Arts and the General Manager of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Most recently he was based in Hong Kong for 12 years working in the payments and eCommerce industry.
Alan is also a non-executive director of the Tweed Regional Art Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre Foundation Ltd., as well as other assorted for-profit Boards.
DIRECTOR, POTTER MUSEUM OF ART AND BUXTON CONTEMPORARY
Charlotte Day is an experienced art curator, museum director and manager, working with prominent institutions and individuals to commission new work, develop impactful art programming and build significant contemporary collections. She is passionate about art-led education and bringing the art of established as well as more emerging artists to the public eye and conversation. In 2023 Charlotte joined the University of Melbourne Museum and Collections team as director of the Potter Museum or Art and Buxton Contemporary. Previously she was Director of Monash University Museum of Art, building its reputation as a leading university museum and educator in the South Pacific, initiating major curatorial and art projects by artists from around the globe. Charlotte has deep networks in the art world and links artists to opportunities. She was closely involved in the design and roll out of the public art program across Monash University and in diversifying both the exhibition program and works in custodianship of the University collection as well as audience engagement and sense of belonging with the museum.
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, NIAGARA GALLERIES
Sarah Murray is Associate Director at Niagara Galleries, where she has worked for over 15 years alongside founder and Director William Nuttall. Prior to this, she worked across advertising and publishing, developing a strong visual sensibility and communication expertise. Sarah has played a key role in supporting Australian artists through projects for public and private collections, as well as gallery and art fair exhibitions. She is a committed advocate for artists and the wider gallery sector, with a focus on fostering a vibrant and sustainable contemporary art community.
FORMER CREATIVE CHAIRMAN OF CLEMENGER BBDO
James McGrath has built a career championing creativity and exploring the value of originality in communication and culture. A veteran of the advertising and marketing industry, he served as Creative Chairman of Clemenger BBDO, during which the agency was recognised as Agency of the Decade and Cannes Lions Global Agency of the Year. He is a former BBDO/Omnicom Global Board Member and has served as Jury President at Cannes Lions, D&AD (UK), and The One Show (New York). He is a Hall of Fame inductee and currently serves on the Board of the Melbourne Sculpture Biennale, and previously on the University of Melbourne Humanities Foundation Board.
OWNER/DIRECTOR, DAINE SINGER GALLERY
Daine Singer has been a gallery owner and director since 2011. As a gallerist and curator, she is committed to ethical art dealing and fully supporting artists. In addition to her dynamic gallery program, Daine has curated exhibitions for organisations including the National Gallery of Victoria, Experimenta Media Arts, Contemporary Art Tasmania and Salamanca Art Centre. Daine has also published four limited edition artist books through her independent small press, VERSION. Prior to opening her own gallery, Daine held positions including Gallery Manager at Anna Schwartz Gallery, Associate Curator at Experimenta Media Arts, and Curator at the Museum of Chinese Australian History. Daine has previously sat on the Business Advisory Council of the City of Yarra, the MLC Friends of Art Committee, and on the board of Blindside, and is a member of the Art Galleries Association of Australia. Daine has an interest in supporting younger generations’ entry into the art world, and has been a mentor to the University of Melbourne’s Arts Career Mentoring Program, the Seventh Gallery Emerging Curator Program, Wundergym, Shotgun at Contemporary Art Tasmania, and The Smith Family’s iTrack Mentor program. She has a BA (art history and history), Grad Dip in Arts Management, and Master of Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne.
Margaret Moore is Founder and Director of MOORE CONTEMPORARY in Perth/Boorloo, a gallery dedicated to the representation and promotion of contemporary artists locally, nationally, and internationally. Since its establishment in 2017, the gallery has delivered more than 60 projects and participated in multiple art fairs.
CO-FOUNDER/CO-DIRECTOR, NASHA GALLERY
Viktor Kravchenko is the co-founder and co-director of Nasha Gallery, based in Gadigal/ Sydney. Viktor holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New South Wales, and has held positions with Sotheby’s Australia, Olsen Gallery, and with noted Australian art dealer Rex Irwin. Since establishing Nasha, Viktor has focused on championing a new generation of Australian artists through close mentorship, and by building a curatorial program that foregrounds experimentation, dialogue and ambition. Viktor used to be a practicing artist and is still currently an art handler. Nasha Gallery has proudly exhibited at Melbourne Art Fair since 2024.