Artbank has announced the appointment of award-winning documentary filmmaker and current Director of Gertrude Contemporary, Emma Crimmings to the newly created role of Assistant Director – Melbourne.
Emma’s wealth of leadership experience includes roles working most recently as Director of Gertrude Contemporary and previously as a Producer for ABC TV Arts, a curator at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and the Australian Centre for Photography and as Acting Director and Program Manager of Cultural Affairs at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC.
Last year Emma was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to undertake international research on artists’ residences programs and creative place making. A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts’ School of Film and TV, Emma also has a Bachelor of Arts in art history and criticism, and has authored numerous books and publications on film and the visual arts.
Director of Artbank, Tony Stephens, explains that the new role of Assistant Director – Melbourne presents as an expanded opportunity and marks a new strategic direction and vision for Artbank’s operations in Melbourne:
“Emma’s appointment to this newly created role marks the next chapter in the evolution of Artbank and its Melbourne operations, said Stephens. “Charged with spearheading Artbank’s support for Australian artists in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, Emma will connect new audiences through the art leasing service and in doing so increase the accessibility of Australian visual art to more Australians.”
“I am confident that Emma’s mix of professional experience and entrepreneurial approach will greatly contribute to Artbank delivering on our objectives in new and interesting ways. We are very excited to have her joining the team”.
On her appointment, Emma said she is “completely thrilled to be joining Artbank at such a dynamic time in its history. I am very attracted to the forward thinking, entrepreneurial model of Artbank and the scope inherent within it.”
“The opportunity to cultivate new audiences and expose them to one the country’s largest collection of Australia contemporary art provides unprecedented potential to significantly increase the support for individual artists, and the visual arts sector more broadly”
Emma will take up her new role in March 2016. For more information, visit: www.artbank.gov.au for details.
Image: Emma Crimmings (supplied)