About
Melbourne Art Foundation is a systemically significant, non-profit Australian arts organisation dedicated to the support of living artists and designers. Established in 2003, Melbourne Art Foundation is committed to bringing artists, designers, galleries, collectors, and visitors together, leading the way in building audiences and a market for contemporary art and design in Australia.
Established in 2003, Melbourne Art Foundation brings together the commercial, social, cultural and environmental threads that underpin and sustain the Australian visual arts ecology. We lead the way in building a more sustainable visual arts sector through connecting and supporting our stakeholders – artists, galleries, collectors, the public, government agencies and arts organisations – and through building audiences and a market for contemporary art and collectible design in Australia.
Melbourne Art Foundation owns and produces the biennial Melbourne Art Fair, Australasia’s leading platform for contemporary ideas, and produces the annual Melbourne Design Fair in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria, to promote and sell the best collectible design from Australia and the world.
Melbourne Art Foundation is supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and Creative Victoria.
The Board
PETER JOPLING AM, KC, CHAIRMAN
KINGS COUNSEL AT VICTORIAN BAR
Peter Jopling is a Melbourne based Queen’s Counsel. Peter is the Chairman of the Ian Potter Museum of Art and Chair of the Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Foundation Ltd. 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 is a Patron of the Australian World Orchestra. Peter is a member of the Victorian College of the Arts Foundation and the Melbourne University Humanities Foundation. Peter has also held board 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.
PROF. BRIAN MARTIN
ASSOCIATE DEAN, INDIGENOUS MONASH UNIVERSITY ART, DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE
Professor Brian Martin is the faculty’s inaugural Associate Dean, Indigenous. Brian is a descendant of Muruwari, Bundjalung and Kamilaroi peoples. Brian is represented by William Mora Galleries. He has been a practising artist for twenty-seven years and has exhibited both nationally and internationally specifically in the media of painting and drawing. His research and practice focuses on refiguring Australian art and culture from an Indigenous ideological perspective based on a reciprocal relationship to “Country”. Brian was previously Professor and Head of Research at the Institute of Koorie Education at Deakin University. He is also Honorary Professor of Eminence at Centurion University of Technology and Management in Odisha, India.
ROSE HISCOCK
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.
MICHAELA WEBB
FOUNDER/CREATIVE DIRECTOR, STUDIO ROUND
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 sists as an advisor on boards for RMIT Design Hub and Ian Potter Museum of Art.
ANNA SCHWARTZ AM
DIRECTOR, ANNA SCHWARTZ GALLERY
Anna Schwartz has owned and directed a private gallery for over 35 years, working closely with leading Australian and international artists and has been committed to the development and promotion of contemporary art and audiences. Schwartz has brought renowned artists to Australian audiences, as well as supporting Australian artists in their overseas endeavours. She has initiated and supported the acquisition of important works by Australian and international artists by Australia’s serious collections, both public and private. Schwartz has represented many artists at the Venice Biennale and other significant events on the world art stage. Anna Schwartz Gallery has participated in art fairs in the US, Europe and Asia, presenting either solo exhibitions or curated group shows.
ADRIAN FINI OAM
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.
JOANNA STRUMPF
CO-DIRECTOR, SULLIVAN+STRUMPF
Joanna Strumpf is the Co-Director of Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney. Strumpf graduated from Queensland University (BA HONS) in 1996, working at Eva Breuer Art Dealer (Sydney), Savill Galleries (Sydney), and was Head of Paintings, Lawson-Menzies, and Art Specialist at Deutscher Menzies (Sydney) before establishing Sullivan+Strumpf in 2005 with Ursula Sullivan. Now one of the leading spaces for contemporary art in Sydney, Sullivan+Strumpf works with over 40 contemporary emerging and established artists from the Australia and the Asia Pacific regions, with an exhibition schedule that has included regular participation in key national and international art fairs, including Art Basel Hong Kong, Taipei Dangdai, West Bund, Shanghai, Melbourne Art Fair and Sydney Contemporary. In 2016, Sullivan+Strumpf opened a second gallery space at Singapore’s Gillman Barracks, the first Australian gallery to establish a permanent presence in Asia.
VIVIEN ANDERSON
DIRECTOR, VIVIEN ANDERSON GALLERY
Vivien Anderson has over 30 years’ experience in Australian Indigenous art. After returning from a career in London in documentary film, she became Manager of the Aboriginal Artists Gallery in Melbourne and later managed and directed several acclaimed contemporary galleries in Melbourne and Sydney, all with a focus on the representation and exhibition of Australian indigenous visual artists. Vivien has directed her own specialist gallery in Melbourne since 2006.The current gallery is in St Kilda. Vivien Anderson is a former board member of the Art Galleries Australia Association and is a current board member of the Indigenous Code of Conduct.
ANNA WALDMANN
DIRECTOR, ART ADVISORY
Anna Waldmann has a background in art history, theory and policy research. Anna was formerly Director of Visual Arts at the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body. Prior to joining the Australia Council, Anna worked as a curator at the Art Gallery of NSW and as Program Manager (Visual Arts and Crafts and Museums and Galleries) at the NSW Ministry for the Arts. Anna was an art advisor on the Editorial Advisory Board of Art & Australia; Visiting Fellow at the College of Fine Arts University of NSW; Chair of Visual Arts at GASP Hobart; and the National and International Art Adviser for the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation. She is currently a Councillor on the University of Sydney Power Institute for Art & Visual Culture Foundation.
OLIVIA RADONICH
DIRECTOR, READINGROOM
Olivia Radonich founded ReadingRoom gallery in 2018, after ten years as Associate Director at Tolarno Galleries. A unique space combining gallery and library, Reading Room collaborates with, and also represents, a small group of artists, developing a program of solo exhibitions, artist publications, artist led projects, film screenings
and conversations.
JUSTIN HOMER
PARTNER, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPER
Justin Homer is a partner at PwC Australia, with 18 years experience specialising in collaborative design, facilitation, strategy and transformation consulting. Justin is an expert in the development of co-design capabilities having successfully developed in-house solutions for world leading organisations across the USA, UK and Australia.
SOPHIE GANNON
DIRECTOR, SOPHIE GANNON GALLERY
Sophie Gannon is Director of Sophie Gannon Gallery, a commercial gallery specialising in contemporary art. Prior to establishing her gallery in Melbourne in 2006, Sophie worked at Philip Bacon Galleries in Brisbane and at Sotheby’s in Melbourne. She is a member of AGAA, and serves on the board of the Robin Boyd Foundation and the Heide Foundation. Sophie represents 28 leading contemporary artists from Australia and New Zealand.
Key People
MAREE DI PASQUALE
CEO & Fair Director
Maree Di Pasquale has held cultural leadership positions across greater Asia and is credited with successfully repositioning and relaunching Melbourne Art Fair in the Melbourne Arts Precinct as a leading showcase for the Australasian contemporary art market. Di Pasquale was Director of Strategic Partnerships at MCB Visit Victoria (2016-2017) and a member of the leadership team for Art Fairs Australia (2010-2016), where she played a pivotal role in revitalising projects and developing ventures in new markets, most notably as founding Director of Art Central Hong Kong (2014-2016) and Assistant Director of Sydney Contemporary (2013 / 2015) and Melbourne Art Fair (2014). During her time in the United Arab Emirates, Di Pasquale managed exhibitor relations and delivered public programs for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Art Fair and the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, the latter in partnership with global teams for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Zayed National Museum (2009-2010).
Di Pasquale holds a BA Visual Arts (Creative Industries) from QUT, and a MA in Marketing from Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne. She has held numerous cultural board and committee appointments and is a current board member for 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (2017-present).
Esther Lawler is a small business strategist turned arts manager who works with galleries, not-for-profits and artists to pass on her knowledge, passion and experience in both the art and business worlds, not only to those with a long-held passion for the arts, but to those fostering an interest. She has previously lent her talents to Sullivan+Strumpf where she was gallery manager for 3 years, driving their art fair strategy and participation in Australia and the region. Prior to her entry into the artworld, Esther worked in the MedTech start-up space, bringing her commercial skills and entrepreneurial spirit to her role with MAF.
Esther holds an MA in Art Curatorship from The University of Melbourne and a PGDip Art History and Theory alongside a BCApSc from The University of Otago.
MAREE@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
ESTHER LAWLER
General Manager
Esther Lawler is a small business strategist turned arts manager who works with galleries, not-for-profits and artists to pass on her knowledge, passion and experience in both the art and business worlds, not only to those with a long-held passion for the arts, but to those fostering an interest. She has previously lent her talents to Sullivan+Strumpf where she was gallery manager for 3 years, driving their art fair strategy and participation in Australia and the region. Prior to her entry into the artworld, Esther worked in the MedTech start-up space, bringing her commercial skills and entrepreneurial spirit to her role with MAF.
Esther holds an MA in Art Curatorship from The University of Melbourne and a PGDip Art History and Theory alongside a BCApSc from The University of Otago.
ESTHER@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
MARY WENHOLZ
Operations Director, Melbourne Art Foundation & Event Director, Melbourne Design Fair
Mary Wenholz has a background in gallery management and the delivery of arts festivals and fairs. Mary has been involved in the successful delivery of seven editions of Sydney Contemporary (2015-2022) including two digital iterations (2020 and 2021), in addition to contributing to fairs internationally including Art Central Hong Kong (2014, 2015, and 2017), Art16 London (2016), and the Melbourne Art Fair (2014). As Event Manager, Mary delivered a city-wide program for Art Month Sydney (2016 and 2017). Prior to this Mary was Associate Director at Gallery Barry Keldoulis for 5 years, a key role involving liaising with artists and collectors, and managing the gallery’s participation at Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Stage Singapore, Korean International Art Fair (KIAF) and the Melbourne Art Fair. Following this, Mary was the Associate Director at Anna Schwartz Gallery, Sydney, overseeing the staging of significant exhibitions including Erwin Wurm, Candice Breitz and You promised me, and you said a lie to me, curated by Alexie Glass Kantor. Mary has a BA (Hons) and MFA from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney.
MARY@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
ERIN HODGE
Director, Marketing & Partnerships
Prior to joining Melbourne Art Foundation, Erin worked at Emporium Melbourne and was involved in delivering the new-to-market $1.6 billion asset; responsible for seeing the brand through development, launch and stabilisation, successfully positioning the centre as an iconic Melbourne destination.
Whilst at Emporium Melbourne, Erin developed and delivered many successful partnerships that received critical acclaim from both local and international media. Passionate about working with both emerging and established creative brands, Erin collaborated with a diverse range of clients, including; Baz Luhrmann, The Australian Ballet, National Gallery of Victoria, Disney, Australian Centre for the Moving Image and Melbourne Fashion Week.
Prior to this, Erin built a diverse skill set working in various roles within the fashion industry, including public relations for Stella McCartney in Paris & London.
ERIN@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
JODIE KRAS
Gallery Relations Manager
Jodie Kras has over 10 years of experience in the art industry, working across commercial galleries, biennales, art fairs and auction houses in Melbourne and Sydney.
Jodie’s passion for helping the next generation of art collectors led her to establish The Arts Club in 2018, a series of pop-up exhibitions in unique locations aiming to bridge the gap between emerging artists and collectors. The Arts Club created spaces distinctly different to the setting of a traditional gallery and sourced unique works by emerging artists at affordable prices.