people
Firstdraft operates through the dedicated work of its staff, board, advisory committee and volunteers. The Board of Directors consists of a diverse group of early-career artists and arts professionals, whose skills and knowledge are key to realising the success of our vision.
Firstdraft operates through the dedicated work of our staff, board and artist advisory committee. Current vacancies can be found here.
staff
Tala Issaoui is an emerging multidisciplinary mystic artist living on Darug land.
Giulia Giorgi is an art historian specialised in 20th-century European art and she lives and works on Gadigal Land.
Caity Reynolds is a practising artist, writer and curator.
board members
Amanda is a seasoned corporate executive with experience spanning the finance, technology, legal and not for profit sectors. She is passionate about assisting underrepresented groups to establish their careers.
Bill Dunbar is an infrastructure and property professional, creative writer and cultural advisor with 25-years’ experience in the public and private sectors across Australia and globally.
Katie Belgiorno-Nettis combines experience in corporate IP law with a background in art history and media communications. She is passionate about supporting the arts alongside her own creative pursuits in oil painting.
Margaret Hancock is Senior Curator, Western Sydney Creative at Western Sydney University. She has over 20 years of visual arts, crafts and design writing, curatorial and cultural project management experience.
Augusta Supple is an award-winning writer, creative producer, and arts and cultural strategist living and working in Western Sydney.
Dominic Kavanagh is Associate Director at Martin Browne Contemporary in Paddington and an advisor across public, private and corporate collections.
Kym Elphinstone is an arts advisor, advocate and the founder of Articulate, Australia's leading cultural agency, and its sister content agency, The Golden Mean.
artist advisory committee
Ebony Wightman is a Western Sydney artist, Disability advocate and co-founder of We Are Studios. Ebony’s practice champions disability-led perspectives and explores her lived experience as a proud Disabled person.
Vedika is an Indian-born artist whose post-disciplinary practice intuitively oscillates between image and image forms to excavate encounters with histories, memories, objects and archives intertwined within colonial modalities.
Rayleen Forester is an independent curator and writer based on Kaurna Country. Rayleen’s curatorial interests focus on cross-cultural engagement through contemporary and experimental art practices.
Employing an autoethnographic approach, Lilah Benetti is an international artist exploring gender, sexuality, and racial politics through speculative practice using archival techniques that blur the lines between reality and fiction.
Audrey Newton is a PhD candidate at Sydney College of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited broadly across Australia and she has completed local and international art and writing residencies.
past co-directors
Founding Roger Crawford, Paul Saint, Tess Horwitz, Narelle Jubelin
Adam Weiderman, Adriane Boag, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Alex Cyreszko, Alex Gawronski, Alex Kiers, Alexandra Clapham, Alice McAuliffe, Amelia Wallin, Amy Griffiths, Andrew Brooks, Andrew Moran, Astrid Kriening, Athena Thebus, Brian Obiri-Asare, Brenda MacDuff, Bridie Moran, Camille Serisier, Cassy Sutherland, Catherine Connolly, Cathy Nunn, Claudia Roosen, Connie Anthes, Consuelo Cavaniglia, Cy Norman, Daniel Green, Dara Gill, David Capra, David Lawrey, Debbie Pryor, Dennis Golding, Di Smith, Dylan Quirk, Elliott Bryce Foulkes, Elizabeth Reidy, Elvis Richardson, Elyse Goldfinch, Emma White, EO Gill, Eva Morosy Weide, Flora Grant, George Dann, Geirthana Nandakumaran, Georgia Hobbs, Georgia Mokak, Georgie Meagher, Gianni Wise, Gina Mobayed, Gillian Kayrooz, Grace Archibald, Hannah Jenkins, Harley Ives, Heather Tralaggan, Helena Leslie, Helen Hyatt-Johnston, Holly Farrell, Holly Williams, Ingrid Mills, Jacqueline Millner, Jade Muratore, Jaki Middleton, James Little, Jamey Nguyen, Jana Hawkins-Andersen, Jane Gillespie, Jane Polkinghorne, Janet Shanks, Jay Hastings, JD Reforma, Jess Olivieri, Jessica Tyrrell, Joanne McCambridge, Julia Mendel, Julie Burke, June Golland, Justin Balmain, Justine Youssef, Kate Scardifield, Kate Britton, Kathryn Gray, Katie Kaars, Katie Winten, Katy Plummer, Kelly Doley, Laura Couttie, Lea Barnett, Lionel Bawden, Liz Reid, Lydia Rodrigues, Maggie Brink, Marley Dawson, M. Sunflower, Michael Moran, Michael Sun, Michaela Gleave, Michelle Wang, Mikala Dwyer, Monica Rani Rudhar, Nadia Hernández, Nairn Scott, Nathan Dunne, Nicholas Folland, Nina Machielse, Ohni Blu, Olivia Welch, Paul Williams, Penelope Benton, Peter Fitzpatrick, Peter H. Johnson, Philipa Veitch, Rowena Hall, Sambavi Seermaran, Sara Oscar, Sarah Goffman, Sean Rafferty, Sharon Ragget, Sidney McMahon, Simone Douglas, Sonny Day, Spence Messih, Tahjee Moar, Tanya Peterson, Tesha Malott, Tess Knight, Thea Perkins, Tian Zhang, Tulleah Pearce, Vaughan O’Connor, Virginia Ross, Vicky Clare, Will French, Wilna Fourie, Yuki Kawakami, Zoe Theodore.