Craft Australia Advocacy·Communication·Research
Current whereabouts: Home > About us > The Board
Craft Australia Board members are drawn from a national craft and design network and are leaders in their chosen fields.
The Board consists of seven people, being four Directors elected by the members and three Directors appointed by the Board. One of the appointed Directors is the Chair of the network of Australian Craft and Design Centres (ACDC) organisations.
Members are appointed for a term of 2 years with an optional 2 year reappointment. The Board meet quarterly and holds four teleconferences annually and advices on strategies for the growth and sustainability of the sector.
Executive
Ordinary Members
President - Robert Reason
Robert Reason is Curator, European and Australian Decorative Arts at the Art Gallery of South Australia and Affiliate Lecturer in the School of History and Politics at the University of Adelaide
Experience
Robert Reason's past exhibitions for the Art Gallery of South Australia include:
Robert Reason coordinated the Morris & Co. exhibition of 2002 and oversaw its national tour (2005-06). Reason has also curated a number of highlight displays for the Gallery including:
In 2008 he was awarded the inaugural Copland Foundation scholarship to attend the prestigious Attingham Trust Summer School in England and in 2009 he attended Tokyo Design Week through the auspices of Asialink.
Robert is highly regarded among decorative arts colleagues and has contributed essays and articles for numerous catalogues and art publications over the past decade as well as writing the first monograph on the Australian artist potter Gladys Reynell (AGSA, 2006).
Elected: February, 2008
Treasurer - Robert Twomey
Robert Twomey has worked for over 18 years in the Government financial field. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. He had previously been the Head of Corporate at the Department of Climate Change and was responsible for establishing the new Department following its establishment in 2007.
Robert has held a range of senior financial positions, including CFO at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Deputy CFO at the Department of Transport and Regional Services. Robert has also worked at the Department of Finance where he was responsible for financial policy issues in relation to defence, foreign affairs, trade, industry, science, tourism and resources and Government Business Enterprises.
Robert holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the Australian National University and is a qualified CPA.
Elected March 2011
Grace Cochrane – Curator and writer
Now an independent curator and writer, formerly senior curator of Australian decorative arts and design at the Powerhouse Museum, including co-ordinating curator for the exhibition, Inspired! Design across time (2005), and curator for Smart works: design and the handmade (2007). Recent exhibitions include White gums and ramoxes: ceramics by Merric and Arthur Boyd from the Bundanon Trust Collection and Looking glass: reflecting ideas, for the Sarjeant Gallery, New Zealand (2009-2010). Author of The Crafts Movement in Australia: a History (NSW University Press, 1992), Grace has talked and written about the crafts for a range of conferences and publications for 35 years.
Born in New Zealand, she has a B.Ed (1976) from the TCAE, Hobart, and BFA, MFA (1984, 1986) and PhD (1999) from the University of Tasmania. Grace Cochrane was warded a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) by the University of New South Wales in 2007. Grace is a past member of various boards for arts and education; and currently the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board. Grace has also worked as a guest editor for Object magazine, Sydney, 2006. In 2001 Grace received the Visual Arts/Craft Board’s Emeritus medal. In 2010 Grace was appointed Adjunct Professor, School of Communication and Creative Industries at the Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, and Visiting Professor, University of Lincoln, UK.
Elected March 2011
Jon Goulder - Craftsman
Jon Goulder (b.1970) was the inaugural winner of the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award in 2003, and is a major contributor to the current momentum of Australian design. In 1992 he completed an apprenticeship in upholstery and furniture-making to become a fourth-generation craftsman. In 1999 he completed a diploma in fine wood and design at the Canberra School of Art.
His skills as a maker allow him to design through creating three-dimensional models. Starting with rough sketches, Goulder produces several fullscale mock-ups to test the form for comfort, making considered adjustments with each prototype. These skills also enable Goulder to undertake his own batch production. However, after hand-making his 150th STAK stool, Goulder made a conscious decision to actively seek out opportunities for manufacturing in China and Australia. He now has several pieces, including the STAK stool, in production in China, while his award-winning Leda seat is now being manufactured in Australia by Woodmark International.
Elected February, 2008
Brian Parkes - Director of the JamFactory, Adelaide
Brian Parkes has been Director of the JamFactory in Adelaide since April 2010 and is both CEO and Artistic Director. He spent ten years prior to this as Associate Director and Senior Curator at Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design. He curated several important exhibitions for Object including the landmark survey of contemporary Australian design; Freestyle: new Australian design for living. Parkes has written extensively on design and contemporary crafts and in 2009 co-curated Menagerie a major exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sculpture currently touring Australia.
In 2007 Parkes was one of ten curators invited by Phaidon Press, London to contribute to &Fork, a hefty book profiling 100 emerging product designers from around the world and in 2008 he was an Adjunct Curator for the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
A graduate of the Tasmanian School of Art in Hobart, Parkes has a significant and unusual background in both the creative and commercial spheres within museums and galleries. In the 1990s he managed the merchandising and retail operations at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1998-2000) and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (1995-98). At both institutions Parkes was regularly involved in major exhibition project teams, development of publications and strategic planning. Prior to this Parkes managed the exhibition program and retail activity at Entrepot Art Products, on campus at the Tasmanian School of Art, Hobart (1991-95).
Elected March 2011
Lorna Shuttlewood - Senior Financial Adviser with Walter Turnbull, Canberra
Lorna has worked for over 20 years in the financial planning industry. Key role is as a private client adviser working with individuals to achieve personal financial goals. This includes assistance with identification of goals and targets, strategic planning, investment advice, education and risk management. She ran her own financial planning business for 15 years. Lorna has been actively involved with education programmes in the community and the workplace around basic financial planning and with a particular emphasis on women and money. Lorna is also a collector of contemporary fine art and craft.
Elected: February, 2008
Dorothy Topfer - Previously General Counsel, Governance and Support, Department of Climate Change
Experience: Dorothy has worked in the legal and corporate governance fields for over 20 years and brings to the board extensive understanding of governance and legal issues relating to cultural bodies. Between 2004-08 she worked in the then Commonwealth Department of Communication IT and the Arts. Her responsibilities during this period included the management of the cultural touring programs such as Playing Australia and Festivals Australia as well as providing governance advice in respect of Commonwealth Cultural institutions.
Elected: April, 2009
Antonia Syme – Immediate Past-President, Director, Australian Tapestry Workshop
Antonia Syme is the Director of the Australian Tapestry Workshop in Melbourne. She has had over 25 years in the arts and cultural sector as a director, consultant, conservator and curator. Prior to this appointment she was Director of Syme Dodson Consulting, and Director of Artbank, the Australian government's art rental program, for over ten years. Her extensive experience has spanned both the private and public sector, in major Australian cultural institutions and as Co-Director of Syme Dodson Gallery in Sydney.
Antonia has been a long serving member of a number of cultural boards and committees including the NSW National Trust's Museums and Collections Committee, the Federal Government's Taxation Incentives for the Arts Committee (art and craft specialist), and the Heritage Council (NSW) Maritime Archaeological Advisory Panel. She also was a former member of the Sydney College of the Arts Board, the Freedman Foundation Travelling Art Scholarships judging panel and has judged many art prizes across Australia.
Elected: April 2007
