Writings, News
Jo Higgins
Routledge publication: Youth Programs in Art ...
Routledge publication: Youth Programs in Art Museums - An International Perspective
Writings
Jo Higgins
Art Guide Australia: Field Notes. A Grassroots ...
Art Guide Australia: Field Notes. A Grassroots Approach to Public Art
Events, Review, News
Jo Higgins
Berlin trip: Connected Audiences Conference and ...
Berlin trip: Connected Audiences Conference and some Art, Art, Art....
Writings, News
Jo Higgins
Art Guide Australia: Home Truths - feature story
Art Guide Australia: Home Truths - feature story
News, Writings
Jo Higgins
Artlink magazine's 'Hyphen' issue published
Artlink magazine's 'Hyphen' issue published

National Gallery of Australia: Digital Young Writers Mentorship

I am incredibly excited to be working with the National Gallery of Australia this year to pilot a Digital Young Writers Mentorship Program.

This program will pair five, young, aspiring arts writers from across the country with mentors including Jane O’Sullivan, Nur Shkembi, Andy Butler, Tian Zhang and Tristen Harwood for a series of masterclasses, industry insight sessions and paid writing briefs, alongside their 1:1 mentoring.

In consultation with the Gallery, the mentorship program has been designed to address identified challenges facing young people looking to enter the sector, including a lack of paid professional development opportunities; the need for supported communities of like-minded creatives; as well as platforms for their voices to be heard in dialogue with major institutions. 

Applications have opened and you can read more about the project on ArtsHub here.

OTHER POSTS

Journal of Museum Education article: "Pockets of Resilience - the Digital Responses of Youth Collectives in Contemporary Art Museums During Lockdown."

Last year I had the opportunity to speak with academic and research Dr Carolina Silva for her paper looking at the different responses of youth collectives at contemporary art museums around the world to the COVID-19 pandemic and mass closure of cultural institutions.

MCA GENEXT Goes Online was one of three case studies she examined.

(In a coming full circle career moment the other two programs Silva profiles are the Whitechapel Gallery’s Duchamp & Sons, who were part of the Louis Vuitton Young Arts Project; and MOCA Teens at Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; and whose program managers, Michelle Antonisse and Jorge Espinosa, I had the huge privilege of learning with last year as part of a peer learning community with the Walker Art Center.)

You can access the article, which appears is in Vol.46, Issue 4, by clicking on the cover image.

OTHER POSTS

ABC Arts: Tarnanthi

I had the incredible privilege to speak with trawlwoolway artist Julie Gough and Tarnanthi Artistic Director and the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Curator of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art, Nici Cumpston recently, for an ABC Arts story.

The work they are doing, with their respective artistic and curatorial practices; the conversations they are facilitating and the changes they are agitating for… it’s critical, careful work that we all need to learn from.

You can read the article here.

Photo: Sia Duff for ABC Arts.

Photo courtesy ABC Arts / Sia Duff

OTHER POSTS

A New Approach: Enduring Foundations, Bold Ambitions

Last week I was invited by the Australian arts and culture think-tank A New Approach to join the panel of their latest webinar. It was an invitation to share my insights into young people and the arts and what arts and culture policy settings Australia needs for the 21st Century ahead of the launch of their latest Analysis Paper.

I am a huge fan of the research and advocacy they’ve undertaken since launching earlier this year and their Insight Report into the attitudes of young middle Australians towards the arts was especially galvanising. Essential reading for anyone doubting the extraordinary sensitivity and understanding that young people have about the role that the arts can play in their lives.

According to ANA: “Australians are increasingly reporting that arts and culture are a critical and valued part of their life and are looking for policy leadership that recognises this. We also know that Australia’s arts and culture sector is at a crossroads. We now have a unique opportunity to shape the change being driven by Covid-19 and use strategic investment to transform and embolden our cultural landscape to serve our contemporary public.”

This Public Webinar was a first step in asking: So, how do we do this?

I had the immense privilege to join Rupert Myer AO, ANA’s Director Kate Fielding, Professor John Daley AM and Cara Kirkwood to reflect on this question and the insights we took from their latest paper.

Clockwise from top left: Kate Fielding, CEO, A New Approach; Cara Kirkwood, Head of Indigenous Engagement & Strategy, National Gallery of Australia; Professor John Daley AM; me.

OTHER POSTS

Churchill Chat - Equity, Inclusion & the Impact of COVID-19 on the Arts

One of the many brilliant things to have emerged from the experience of my Churchill Fellowship has been my friendship with fellow Fellows Patricia Adjei and Morwenna Collett - experienced, passionate arts advocates and leaders in their own fields.

On 30 August we were invited to hold a “Churchill Chat“ by the NSW Churchill Fellows Association. Given we were all in the middle of Sydney’s second COVID lockdown it was held online. But also… given we were all in the middle of Sydney’s second COVID lockdown we took the opportunity to revisit our respective Fellowship learnings and reflect on some of the bigger conversations happening in the arts at the moment around equity, inclusion and the impact of COVID-19 on the sector and on the respective audiences and stakeholders our research focused on.

As always, I learnt a lot from the conversation and I’m excited it’s finally up online to share:

OTHER POSTS

I live and work on the unceded lands of the Gadigal and Bidjigal people and acknowledge their unbroken connection to this Country. I pay my deepest respects to their Elders, past and present, because this always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.