CHAIR – MARK LILLIS
Mark has a background in theatre, documentary film-making, festival and cultural programming, brand management, marketing and communications and strategic planning. He currently works in the tertiary education sector. He is also a member of the choir Coro Innominata.
TREASURER – PAMELA THORNTON
Pamela is an experienced arts manager currently employed as Business Manager at Our Community Project and Tender Funerals, Australia. Pamela’s previous positions include Business Manager at Riverside Theatres, Planning & Operations Manager at the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO), Administrative Director at the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) and Business Manager at Bundanon Trust, the Arthur Boyd property gifted to the nation.
MARILYN MILLER (MFA- Cultural Leadership NIDA, BBus., DipCounselling, DipDance,)
Marilyn is of Kukuyalanji / Waanyi Heritage who was born in Cairns and spent most of her life and Career in the Arts in Sydney, co-founding Australia’s 1st Contemporary Indigenous Dance Company AIDT-the Company, in the early 1990’s. She is the Founder of BlakDance Australia Ltd, now in its 10th year, and sits on the BlakDance Cultural Council. She is also the Deputy Chair of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF). Throughout her Career, Marilyn has been; Artistic Associate, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF), Creative Producer, Yirrama Yaanga-na (2016), Festival Director, Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival (LADF), 2013; Artistic Director, Australian Delegation – Festival of Pacific Arts 2012 (Solomon Islands); Creative Producer, 2008 Opening of Parliament–Welcome to Country; Artistic Director, Kooemba-Jdarra Performing Arts Company; Mentor for the Youth Justice Program RECLAIM, at enVizion; and has worked part-time in a Women’s Shelter as well as with Healing in Action – Granny’s Yarns, as a Life Coach/Counsellor with children in out-of-home care, and single Mothers.
DOLLA MERRILLEES
Dolla Merrillees is a writer, curator, cultural producer and public speaker. She frequently presents at museum and academic conferences and is author of The Woodcutter’s Wife: A Stepmother’s Tale (Halstead Press, 2007). She brings a wealth of national and international experience to her work having had senior roles in large scale festivals, museums, cultural spaces as well as the tertiary sector. Merrillees is currently the Director Western Sydney Creative, Western Sydney University and was previously the Director and CEO of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney and the Associate Director, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation. Merrillees is a global emissary for the Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas and has worked with leading fashion designers, cultural practitioners, and architects. She is a member of the Sydney Review of Books Advisory Board and has sat on numerous boards and committees. Merrillees is listed in Who’s Who of Australian Women and in 2018 she was awarded an Australian Design Honour by the Australian Design Centre.
JANE WITTER
Jane Witter has held senior commercial leadership roles in various entities, including in the private sector, government and government business entities. She also has over fifteen years’ experience as a commercial lawyer and advisor. She is passionate about the value of arts and culture, both at an individual, community and national level and practises as a visual artist in her miniscule amounts of spare time. She has served on a number of Boards, including for over 10 years on the Riverside Theatres of Parramatta, including as Chair, on the Parramatta Park Trust Board and then on the Advisory Board which set strategy for the amalgamation of all NSW government parklands and is a strong advocate for the centrality of Western Sydney to the future of NSW. In all facets of her life she focuses on the importance of building and supporting diversity to deliver fair and representative outcomes and a better society for all. She is a mother of three, wife to one, sibling to three, daughter of two and friend to many.
MARTIN DEL AMO
Martin Del Amo is a Sydney-based choreographer and dancer with more than 25 years of professional experience. He started out as solo artist, acclaimed for his full-length solos fusing idiosyncratic movement and intimate storytelling. Over the last decade, Martin has also built a strong reputation as creator of group works and solos for others. Programmed by all major presenters in NSW, including Sydney Opera House and Carriageworks, his work has toured nationally in Australia and internationally to the UK, Japan and Brazil. Martin regularly teaches for a wide range of arts organisations and companies, and has extensively worked as mentor, dramaturg, movement consultant and dance writer. His contributions to the Australian arts sector have been recognised with the prestigious Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship (2015) and the Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance (2018).
PEPA MOLINA
Pepa Molina is an Australian Flamenco artist with Andalusian heritage and a respected international profile. Promoting, producing, and propagating the unique art form of Flamenco within the Spanish and non-Spanish speaking communities of Australia and increasing the awareness and recognition of Australian artistic excellence overseas.
Pepa has worked with Spain’s leading Flamenco artists as a soloist in companies such as; “La Mariquilla”, “Juan Andres Maya – Cautivo y mis raices”, “Adrian Sanchez”- Taracea. “Manolete – Flamenco Soy & Amor Brujo featuring Eva La Yerbabuena, Beatriz Martin, Juan Andres Maya & Manolo Marin- choreographer ”, “Rafael Amargo” – Amargo, Troya Siglo XXI, Poeta en Nueva York. “Arrieritos” – 13 Rosas. Paco Peña y Los Losadas. “Pan American Symphony Orchestra” – Flamenkas por Albeniz. Pepa is also the founder and director of Flamenco Dance Company, Compañía Pepa Molina.
