SAMAG Committee

The SAMAG Committee is a voluntary body consisting of 10 members representing varying interests in the arts - including performing arts, museums, regional arts, visual arts, sponsorship and funding bodies. The Committee meet approximately every 4 weeks and are responsible for the coordination of the monthly seminars.

Current SAMAG Committee members are:

Belinda Kelly, Artistic Associate, Griffin Theatre Company Belinda is an arts administrator and theatre producer and is currently Artistic Associate at Griffin Theatre Company where she works across the company’s main and independent season, sits on the programming committee and manages the Between the Lines program of public events.  Belinda also makes new work through independent theatre company Arthur and has a BA/LLB from Monash University.

Fraser Corfield is a theatre director and Artistic Director of the Australian Theatre for Young People. over the past 20 years he has sat on advisory bodies at all levels of the industry including as a peer assessor for Arts Queensland (current), Regional Arts NSW (current), the Theatre Board of the Australi Council for the Arts (2008 - 2011), Company Associate of Queensland Theatre Company (2006 - 2008), a board member for Young People in the Arts Australia (207 - 2009, and a board member of BRisbane's Metro Arts (2005 - 2008). 

Gabrielle Eade, Arts NSW - Communities NSW Gabrielle is currently Senior Contracts Officer at Arts NSW, working across a range of areas including Visual Arts, Museums, Major Festivals, Literature and New Media. As part of the role, she is responsible for managing the Helen Lempriere Travelling Arts Scholarship and the Design NSW: Travelling Scholarship. Prior to working at Arts NSW, Gabrielle studied arts administration and design, and worked as a graphic designer for a range of organisations.

Grace Archibald is the Coordinator of Creative Partnerships Australia New South Wales. Before joining Creative Partnerships Australia (formerly AbaF), Grace worked as a project and communications coordinator for British Council Australia. She has also held positions on various cultural festivals including Art Month Sydney and was a co director of Firstdraft Gallery 2010 and 2011. Grace has a Bachelor of Media Communications from UNSW and a Bachelor of Art Education form College of Fine Arts (UNSW).

Julia Tsalis is the Program Manager at the NSW Writers’ Centre where she is responsible for programming the Centre’s courses, managing the Festivals, competitions and Newswrite. Julia has over ten years experience in arts management; having worked at the Australian Writers’ Guild, the Australia Council in international market development and in the US as Program Manager of the Professional Theatre Training Program.  She has worked as a Stage Manager and holds a Masters degree in Theatre.

Kevin Golding, Australia Council for the Arts  
Kevin has over 20 years experience in small to medium sized not-for-profit organisations both on Boards and as senior management. In that time Kevin has established several diverse organisations  – community arts, media, health, fundraising and performing arts. Kevin’s previous position was operations manager in a large community health organisation oversighting growth from $400,000 turnover & 12 staff, to $7 million turnover & 130 staff state-wide over a 10 year period. Kevin also has extensive experience in events management and fundraising.

 Kevin currently is the Business and Governance Analyst at the Australia Council and gives expert advice and support to SME arts organisations in Australia Council’s portfolio of key organisations in order to enhance their business planning, governance and operational capabilities. Kevin also gives provides analysis and policy advice to Council on issues impacting small to medium arts organisations; and develops and promotes best management and governance practices in key arts organisations.

Luke Cowling is a theatre director and producer and currently the Artistic Director and CEO of Critical Stages, developing opportunities for the work of independent theatre artists. A graduate of WAAPA (Stage Management) and NIDA (Directing), Luke has held a variety of roles in the performing arts including Production Manager of Black Swan Theatre Company and Australian Theatre for Young People, producer for Playwriting Australia's National Play Festival and National Script Workshop, Creative Producer of World Interplay and Associate Artistic Director of Tamarama Rock Surfers Theatre Company. 

Nisa Mackie, Public Program and Education Manager, Casula Powerhouse. Nisa holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts Admin from Macquarie University, a diploma in project management, and a Master of Art from COFA. She has worked in public programs and education across a variety of organisations including the Campaign for Drawing, the Biennale of Sydney and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. She also sits on the Museum and Galleries gallery committee. 

Rebecca Clarke graduated with a BA Acting from QUT in 1997, and is now completing an external Masters in Research (Playwriting) with the same university. Acting work includes several roles for television, short film and stage and a national tour of her one-woman show, Unspoken, for which she won Best Newcomer at the Sydney Theatre Awards in 2006. Here her show was also awarded Best Independent Production, and was later published by Currency Press and produced for ABC Radio National. More recently she has been involved as a writer in short projects including Sydney Ghost Stories at the Old Fitzroy and Stories from the 428 at Sidetrack Theatre, while she continues to work on her second play.     After six and a half years as an independent TV researcher with ADA, working for several networks, producers and advertisers, she worked in arts administration, marketing, publicity and event management for a number of organisations including Playworks, the Australian Directors Guild (ADG), Seymour Centre, Christine Dunstan Productions, Monkey Baa, Bien-Etre, ACTT and Cleveland Street Theatre, most recently coordinating the Imagine Festival at Cleveland Street. She also proofreads for RealTime Arts and has written for ArtsHub and Screen Hub.

Safi Rowland is the Membership Specialist at Sydney Opera House responsible for alll facets of the program from systems to membership events. Previous marketing experience includes working for BSkyB and Setanta Sports GB, both roles specialising in marketing subscription sports TV. In another life, Safi was a high school teacher and Assistant Head of Year, teaching English and Sociology. She holds a Masters Degree in Global Media. 

Steven Miller, Chartered Accountant and Principal: Steven J Miller & Co Steve Miller has 25 years experience in the chartered accounting field and is the Principal at Steven J Miller & Co, Chartered Accountants. His involvement with the arts includes Directorships with the Sydney Film Festival (1994 – 2000), the Australian Music Centre and Railway Street Theatre (formerly the Q Theatre), ASDACSLtd and Treasurer of SAMAG since its Foundation. His firm provides training, consulting and audit services to arts companies.

Dr Sophie Liberman is the Head of Programs at The Historic Houses Trust of NSW, reponsible for quality and direction of the organisation's programs, outreach and community engagement. She was previously the Manager, Science Communication at the Australian Museum in Sydney. Sophie completely completed PhD in History at the University of New South Wales.