About
Melbourne Art Fair is a seminal fixture on the annual Australasian cultural calendar, stimulating critical and commercial attention for galleries and their artists for over 35 years. The Fair supports and promotes living artists through the staging of a world-class platform for contemporary art, showcasing iconic and new works by artists from the region’s most respected galleries.
With this global creative city as a backdrop, Melbourne Art Fair returns in 2025 to the Denton Corker Marshall designed Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, continuing its lead role in the region for fostering the development of new audiences for contemporary art.
Melbourne Art Fair has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory board, and Creative Victoria.
20-23 February 2025, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
First Release tickets are currently on sale until 31 October.
The Foundation
Founded by a group of galleries in 1988, Melbourne Art Fair is today owned and operated by the Melbourne Art Foundation, an Australian nonprofit arts organisation dedicated to the support of living artists.
Since 2003, the Melbourne Art Foundation has distributed over AUD $1M in artist fees and grants, and facilitated an estimated AUD $70M in contemporary art sales at Melbourne Art Fair. With the endorsement of the Art Galleries Association of Australia (AGAA) the Fair continues to be a seminal fixture on the Australasian cultural calendar, stimulating critical and commercial attention for artists for over 35 years.
Melbourne Art Foundation produces the annual Melbourne Art Fair and, produced in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria, the biennial Melbourne Design Fair.
The Board
PETER JOPLING AM, KC, CHAIRMAN
COMPANY DIRECTOR AND PHILANTHROPIST
Peter Jopling is a Melbourne-based King’s Counsel. Peter is the Chairman of the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Chair of the Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Foundation Ltd, Chair of Lucy Guerin Inc and Chair of the Melbourne University Humanities Foundation. Peter has been Deputy Chair of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, a Director of the McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, and Director of the National Gallery of Australia Foundation. Peter was a Patron of the Australian World Orchestra as well as a member of the Victorian College of the Arts Foundation and is a Director of Pinchgut Opera, Lux Australis and the Victorian Art Centre Foundation. Peter has also held directorships of science and business school boards as well as various legal governing boards. In 2014 Peter was made a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia for significant service to the law in Victoria and to the community.
MICHAELA WEBB
FOUNDER/CREATIVE DIRECTOR, STUDIO ROUND
With over 20 years’ experience, Michaela has worked for some of the world’s leading brand and design companies, including Wolff Olins and Spin in London, and in 2016 was elected as a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI). In 2002, Michaela founded Round with Robert Nudds, a design practice that connects culture, commerce and creativity to deliver transformative brands across arts & culture, food & drink, hospitality, publishing, property, retail and architecture & design. Michaela currently sits as an advisor on boards for RMIT Design Hub and Ian Potter Museum of Art.
ROSE HISCOCK
DIRECTOR OF MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS,
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Prior to the University of Melbourne, Rose was Director of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Powerhouse Museum), Australia’s contemporary museum for excellence and innovation in applied arts and sciences. Rose’s career includes a period at the Australia Council, where she held the position of Executive Director, Arts Development and Museum Victoria where she was responsible for commercial and audience growth across Museum Victoria’s highly successful venues. She is committed to building a thriving and dynamic arts sector and is Board member of Back to Back Theatre and Chunky Move.
ADRIAN FINI OAM
FOUNDER/DIRECTOR, FJM PROPERTY AND FINI GROUP
Adrian Fini OAM is a prominent Perth business executive involved in property development and the arts. He was managing director of family company Fini Group. Following its merger with ASX-listed Mirvac in 2001, he became chief executive of the expanded Mirvac Fini Business. He was subsequently appointed an executive director of Mirvac Group, responsible for its development division before resigning in 2010 to concentrate on private business ventures through FJM property and the ‘reborn’ Fini Group. In July 2020, Fini Group and Linc Property merged their operations under the name Hesperia. Mr. Fini is a director of Perth Festival and the University of Western Australia Foundation. In 2016, Mr. Fini was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to the arts in Western Australia, and named the Western Australian of the Year.
NICHOLAS THOMPSON
OWNER/DIRECTOR, NICHOLAS THOMPSON GALLERY
Nicholas Thompson is the owner and director of Nicholas Thompson Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in Naarm/Melbourne, founded in 2015. Prior to opening the gallery, he was employed for a decade by several of Australia’s most esteemed art galleries, including Philip Bacon Galleries in Brisbane and Australian Galleries in Melbourne. Thompson is a graduate of the University of Queensland (BA Hons Art History) and the University of Melbourne (MA Curatorship). He is an approved valuer for the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program and a member of the Art Galleries Association of Australia. Since its opening, Nicholas Thompson Gallery has exhibited at every iteration of the Melbourne Art Fair.
VIVIEN ANDERSON
OWNER/DIRECTOR, VIVIEN ANDERSON GALLERY
Vivien Anderson has over 30 years’ experience in Australian Indigenous art. After returning from a career in London in documentary film, she became Manager of the Aboriginal Artists Gallery in Melbourne and later managed and directed several acclaimed contemporary galleries in Melbourne and Sydney, all with a focus on the representation and exhibition of Australian indigenous visual artists. Vivien has directed her own specialist gallery in Melbourne since 2006. The current gallery is in St Kilda. Vivien Anderson is a former board member of the Art Galleries Australia Association and is a current board member of the Indigenous Code of Conduct.
JACK WILKIE-JANS
ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS ADVOCATE
ARTIST & ARTSWORKER
Jack Wilkie-Jans is an established arts writer, multi-disciplinary artist, arts worker, and Aboriginal affairs advocate from Cape York Peninsula, based in Cairns/Gimuy, Queensland. After 12 years working across the contemporary First Nations visual arts sector (at all levels, domestically and internationally), in 2023 he launched his own consultancy practice: JWJ Consultancy. Professionally, Jack specialises in arts writing & review; policy guidance; governance and operational best, Cultural practice; artist representation; regional economic development; and land management. A Tribal Great-Grandson of Dr Thancoupie/Thanakupi Gloria Fletcher James AO, Jack is an Alumni of the National Gallery Leadership Program (2011). As an artist (painting, film and photography) his focus is on post-colonial narratives and non-Culturally specific artistic abstraction and exploration
ANDREW JENSEN
OWNER/DIRECTOR, FOX JENSEN GALLERY AND FOX JENSEN MCCRORY
JOANNA STRUMPF
CO-OWNER/CO-DIRECTOR, SULLIVAN+STRUMPF
Joanna Strumpf is the Co-Director of Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney. Established in 2005 with Ursula Sullivan, the gallery is now one of the leading spaces for contemporary art in Australia working with over 40 contemporary emerging and established artists, and regularly participating in key national and international art fairs. Strumpf holds a Bachelor of Arts with Double Major in Art History from the University of Queensland and has held positions at Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Savill Galleries, Lawson-Menzies (Head of Paintings), and Deutscher Menzies (Art Specialist) before founding Sullivan+Strumpf. In 2021, Strumpf and Sullivan created The First Nation’s Fellowship Gift Fund in partnership with The Institute of Modern Art (IMA, Brisbane), that looks to give opportunities to emerging First Nations curators through projects with the IMA. In 2022, Sullivan+Strumpf expanded by opening a second Australian space in Melbourne.
ALAN PIGOTT
COMPANY DIRECTOR AND ADVISOR
Alan Pigott is a non-executive director and advisor who brings experience in strategy, business planning, governance, people and culture to the Board. He has a deep working knowledge of the for-profit, not for profit sectors and public sectors. He is passionate about the visual arts sector in Australia.
Alan has held senior positions across all levels of government including the Premier’s Department of NSW and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Before joining the private sector, Alan was the Deputy Chief Executive of Job Futures, a significant provider of employment services managing Federal and State Government contracts across 166, often remote locations. He was previously Director Arts Development with the NSW Ministry for the Arts and the General Manager of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Most recently he was based in Hong Kong for 12 years working in the payments and eCommerce industry.
Alan is also a non-executive director of the Tweed Regional Art Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre Foundation Ltd., as well as other assorted for-profit Boards.
ANDREW KIRK
DIRECTOR, MISTER KIRKY PRESS OFFICE
Andrew Kirk is the founder of Mister Kirky Press Office. Established in 2015 and building on 20 years experience in public relations and brand strategy, Andrew delivers purposeful storytelling and connection to a global roster of clients in design, art, culture, travel and hospitality.
DAINE SINGER
OWNER/DIRECTOR, DAINE SINGER GALLERY
Daine Singer has been a gallery owner and director since 2011. As a gallerist and curator, she is committed to ethical art dealing and fully supporting artists. In addition to her dynamic gallery program, Daine has curated exhibitions for organisations including the National Gallery of Victoria, Experimenta Media Arts, Contemporary Art Tasmania and Salamanca Art Centre. Daine has also published four limited edition artist books through her independent small press, VERSION. Prior to opening her own gallery, Daine held positions including Gallery Manager at Anna Schwartz Gallery, Associate Curator at Experimenta Media Arts, and Curator at the Museum of Chinese Australian History. Daine has previously sat on the Business Advisory Council of the City of Yarra, the MLC Friends of Art Committee, and on the board of Blindside, and is a member of the Art Galleries Association of Australia. Daine has an interest in supporting younger generations’ entry into the art world, and has been a mentor to the University of Melbourne’s Arts Career Mentoring Program, the Seventh Gallery Emerging Curator Program, Wundergym, Shotgun at Contemporary Art Tasmania, and The Smith Family’s iTrack Mentor program. She has a BA (art history and history), Grad Dip in Arts Management, and Master of Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne.
Advisory
N’ARWEET CAROLYN BRIGGS AM
FOUNDER AND CHAIR, BOON WURRUNG FOUNDATION
Carolyn is a Boon Wurrung senior elder and is the chairperson and founder of the Boon Wurrung Foundation. She has been involved in developing and supporting opportunities for Indigenous youth and Boon Wurrung culture for over 50 years.
A big part of her work is defining her role as an elder, but also having it validated by the wider community. This involves teaching a generation of children about language and history.
Carolyn was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019 for her significant service to the Indigenous community and she sees this national recognition as part of her role of an elder.
She has undertaken studies in Language & Linguistics in the hope of recording her Boon Wurrung language in oral and written form, as well as a Doctorate in Philosophy – Media & Communication researching assisting urban Indigenous youth to understand Indigenous knowledge, which has been part of Carolyn’s life-long journey documenting the history of her ancestors.
Key people
MARY WENHOLZ
CEO
Having worked across a global network of art fairs and some of the region’s most significant commercial galleries, Mary Wenholz has developed extensive relationships across Australasia’s cultural sector. Mary joined the Melbourne Art Foundation in 2022 in the post of Director of Events and Operations, overseeing the successful launch of the inaugural Melbourne Design Fair delivered in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria. Mary has also been involved in the successful delivery of seven editions of Sydney Contemporary (2015-2022), in addition to contributing to fairs internationally including Art Central Hong Kong (2014, 2015, and 2017), Art16 London (2016), and the Melbourne Art Fair (2014). As Event Manager, Mary delivered a city-wide program for Art Month Sydney (2016 and 2017). Prior to this, Mary was the Associate Director at Anna Schwartz Gallery, Sydney, overseeing the staging of significant exhibitions including Erwin Wurm, Candice Breitz and You promised me, and you said a lie to me, curated by Alexie Glass Kantor. From 2008 – 2013, Mary was Associate Director at Gallery Barry Keldoulis, managing the gallery’s relationship with artists and collectors, and its participation at Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Stage Singapore, Korean International Art Fair (KIAF) and the Melbourne Art Fair. Mary has a BA (Hons) and MFA from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney.
MARY@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
MELISSA LOUGHNAN
FAIR DIRECTOR
Melissa Loughnan founded Utopian Slumps in 2007, shifting it from a non-profit to a commercial model in 2010 and operating until the end of 2014. During this time Utopian Slumps participated in numerous local and international art fairs, including Melbourne Art Fair, Sydney Contemporary, Auckland (Aotearoa) Art Fair, Art Stage Singapore, Art Forum Berlin, Art Fair Tokyo and Art Basel Hong Kong. Melissa shifted the business to a consulting agency in 2015, with a focus on public art advisory projects.
Melissa self-published Utopian Slumps: The Collingwood Years in 2011 and authored Australiana to Zeitgeist: An A to Z of New Australian Contemporary Art, Thames and Hudson, 2017. She has presented at various curatorial symposia and participated in panel discussions across Australia and internationally. She recently served a six year term on the Board of West Space.
MELISSA@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
ERIN HODGE
DIRECTOR, MARKETING & PARTNERSHIPS
Prior to joining Melbourne Art Foundation, Erin worked as an integral member of the marketing team at Emporium Melbourne. From its beginning in 2014, Erin was involved in delivering the new-to-market $1.6 billion asset; responsible for seeing the brand through development, launch and stabilisation, successfully positioning the centre as an iconic Melbourne destination.
Whilst at Emporium Melbourne, Erin developed and delivered many successful partnerships that received critical acclaim from both local and international media. Passionate about working with both emerging and established creative brands, Erin collaborated with a diverse range of clients, including; Baz Luhrmann, The Australian Ballet, National Gallery of Victoria, Disney, Australian Centre for the Moving Image and Melbourne Fashion Week.
Prior to this, Erin built a diverse skill set working in various roles within the fashion industry, including public relations for Stella McCartney in Paris & London.
ERIN@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
JODIE KRAS
DIRECTOR, GALLERIES
Jodie Kras has over 10 years of experience in the art industry, working across commercial galleries, biennales, art fairs and auction houses in Melbourne and Sydney.
Jodie’s passion for helping the next generation of art collectors led her to establish The Arts Club in 2018, a series of pop-up exhibitions in unique locations aiming to bridge the gap between emerging artists and collectors. The Arts Club created spaces distinctly different to the setting of a traditional gallery and sourced unique works by emerging artists at affordable prices.
JODIE@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
HOLLY CAMPBELL
VIP AND PROGRAM MANAGER
Holly Campbell is an arts administrator with an interest in connecting both public and private audiences with visual art and curated spaces. Prior to joining the Melbourne Art Foundation, Holly worked as a Curator and Operations Coordinator for public art consultancy and manufacturer UAP Company, leading the Melbourne Studio and working with Clients both nationally and internationally. Holly holds a BA from The University of Melbourne.
HOLLY@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
CRISTINA ULLOA SOBARZO
DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER
Cristina Ulloa Sobarzo is an emerging arts professional. She has previously worked with Clemenger BBDO, leading the digital implementation of campaigns for Myer. During that time, she also volunteered with SYN radio as an executive producer for their flagship arts and culture show, Art Smitten. There, she was able to further cultivate her love of the arts, interviewing working artists around Naarm and beyond, while producing a weekly radio show and managing a team of volunteers. In 2020, during lockdown, she worked with RMIT Culture to produce a student belonging exhibition titled Museum of Me which looked to connect students during a time of social isolation.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Media), graduating from RMIT in 2021.
CRISTINA@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
DHARIZ (DEE) MANALO
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Dhariz (Dee) Manalo has a background in project and operations management. She thrives on building strong relationships and providing solutions to all stakeholders within the Arts, Events and Construction Materials Industry. Dee has been involved in the successful delivery of Melbourne Art Fair (2022), Melbourne Design Fair (2022 – 2023), Affordable Art Fair (2022), Sydney Contemporary (2022 – 2023), Gertrude Street Projection Festival (2022 – 2023) and IMARC (2022 – 2023).
An avid volunteer within the Arts sector, Dee is committed to sharing inspirational experiences with the audience whilst supporting artists, galleries and NFP organisations.
DHARIZ@MELBOURNEARTFOUNDATION.COM
VIP Relations
Partnering with Melbourne’s leading institutions, private museums and independent art spaces, the Melbourne Art Fair VIP Program celebrates the vibrancy of Victoria’s cultural landscape. The program engages an international network of collectors through invitation-only dinners, studio visits, private collection tours, exhibition openings, and private events. Melbourne Art Fair allows collectors to discover artists, galleries and artworld figures at the forefront of contemporary art, and experience the best of our host city, Melbourne.
For more information on the VIP Program, or to register your interest, please email:
For existing VIPs, you can access the VIP Portal with your unique code via the link below:
@melbourneartfair
