judges

 

The judges for the 2020 Stanthorpe Art Prize are Rachael Parsons and Simon Elliott.

 
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Rachael Parsons

Art Museum Director, New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM).

Rachael is an Australian curator, educator and academic currently based at New England Regional Art Museum as the Art Museum Director.

For over 12 years, she has worked as an independent and institutional curator within university, commercial, public and artists run spaces. Her recent experience includes being the Manager, Exhibitions and Curatorial at New England Regional Art Museum where she delivered multiple programs including curating HINTON: Treasures of Australian Art, a permanent salon display exhibition from NERAM’s Howard Hinton Collection.

Prior to coming to NERAM Rachael was the Curator for Digital Media at QUT Precincts (Queensland University of Technology), where she curated and managed their exhibition program focused on contemporary digital, new media and technology based creative practice. Rachael also curated the inaugural exhibition program at Side Gallery, was co-director of Vegas Spray, director of the Brisbane Experimental Arts Festival and has been an arts educator since 2008, tutoring in a range of art theory and Creative Industries subjects at Queensland University of Technology.

 
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Simon Elliott

Deputy Director, Collection and Exhibitions, at Queensland Art Gallery|Gallery of Modern Art (QAG|GOMA)

Simon is the Deputy Director, Collection and Exhibitions at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane and Vice-President of the national museums sector peak body, the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA). Previously, he held the role of Assistant Director, Curatorial and Educational Services at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) for 10 years. Prior to employment at the NGA, Simon was Assistant Director of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Canberra, for seven years.

Born in Brisbane, Simon commenced his museum career at the Queensland Art Gallery in 1985 and was a key contributor to the first and second instalments of the Gallery’s signature exhibition series, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. His employment has spanned professional roles in local, state and Commonwealth collecting institutions and his academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA).

“Art is something special that we humans share with each other. Making art is unique to us and we have been doing it for thousands of years — yet we always seem to come up with something new and novel. Exhibitions and prizes are celebrations of all that is special about the arts, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone for the Stanthorpe Art Prize in 2020.”