The ACT Cultural Council
The ACT Cultural Council provides strategic arts policy advice to the ACT Government on arts issues. The Council also provides a link between the Minister for the Arts and the ACT arts sector.
Current members of the ACT Cultural Council are as follows:
- Dr Paul Hetherington (Chair) is Assistant Professor of Writing at the University of Canberra. He is the author of eight collections of poetry and edited the final three volumes of the National Library of Australia's four-volume edition of The Diaries of Donald Friend. He has extensive experience working in the Australian cultural sector and has been responsible for initiating and managing diverse cultural programs and arts activities.
- Ms Dianna Laska-Moore was the Artistic Director of World Dance Company and is one of Australia's most experienced character and folk dance specialists. Dianna was a soloist and ballet mistress with International Danstheater in the Netherlands and taught in major dance academies in Holland. Dianna taught at QUT, Queensland Dance School of Excellence and Queensland Ballet. She was Stage Director for many dance events and served on the Queensland Government's Arts Advisory Committee.
- Mr Greg Lissaman has extensive experience working as a playwright and director, specialising in theatre by and for young people. He trained at the Victorian College of the Arts, and returned to Canberra as the Artistic Director of Jigsaw Theatre Company. Greg is currently the Exhibitions and Public Programs Manager at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House. He continues to write and direct as a freelance artist.
- Ms Kylie O'Keeffe is an artist and community arts worker and is the former Manager of Warehouse Circus - an ACT Key Arts Organisation that provides circus skills training for young people. Kylie has worked as a circus and physical theatre performer and has managed various events and community arts activities. She has been a community development facilitator for Northside Community Services and has also worked for Belconnen Youth Centre as a support worker for young people with disabilities.
- Dr Andrew Pike OAM is a film distributor, film historian and documentary film-maker. He co-authored the seminal book, Australian Film 1900-1977, published by Oxford University Press. He has produced and directed many documentaries, and through his company, Ronin Films, has distributed many Asian and Australian films. In 2007, he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his services to the film industry, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra.
- Mr Michael Sollis is an Australian born composer and artistic director of The Griffyn Ensemble. Michael completed a composition major under Jim Cotter and Larry Sitsky at the Australian National University School of Music in 2005, and in that year received the Harold Allen Memorial Prize for Composition. In 2006, he received a scholarship from the Australian Research Council to participate in ethnomusicological research in the Papua New Guinea highlands for which he received the University Medal.
- Mr John Topfer is a lawyer and a partner in the Canberra office of national law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques. His primary areas of practice are in commercial disputes, administrative law and professional indemnity. He has been a member of Mallesons national board and of the audit and finance committee. John has a deep interest in the arts and in art practice. He is also a sculptor working primarily in steel.
You can contact the ACT Cultural Council via artsACT:
Secretariat
ACT Cultural Council
C/o artsACT
Policy and Organisational Services
Community Services Directorate
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