The Lockup

HeArt Open - Hunter Innovation Festival Panel, featuring Kirsten Drysdale with curator of The Lock-Up’s INSIDE ELANDS Una Rey, AfriB Creations Fashion Designer Bronwyn Hassan, Hunter Young Professional Daniel Drayton and Environmental Activist and Poet George Woods, May 2021.

The Lock-Up is an 1800s police station, reimagined as a contemporary art space.

Committed to presenting multidisciplinary practices of local, national and international artists, The Lock-Up is a space that is dedicated to stimulating and challenging audiences. With an emphasis on producing artist-led projects that explore contemporary social issues, The Lock-Up believes firmly in artists taking risks. Our historical space is a platform for artists to create new works, experiment, create dialogue, share, learn and reflect.

STAFF

COURTNEY NOVAK
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Courtney Novak has extensive experience in curating, marketing, programming and event production. She has worked with various arts organisations in Australia including Artbank, Australia Council for the Arts and Newcastle Art Gallery. She has also worked extensively in the Middle East for The Third Line, Christie’s Middle East and Art Dubai, the largest art fair in the Middle East and North African region.

Courtney joined The Lock-Up in 2014 and has since worked closely with the Newcastle Reserve Land Managers to create a nationally recognised, multi-award-winning program. As Artistic Director, she has been instrumental in the direction of the organisation and has curated multiple exhibitions within the program, notably NIGEL MILSOM: JUDO HOUSE, SEEING RED, I LOVE YOU MELISSA and most recently SAM SMITH: ELEMENTS. Courtney holds a Master in Curating and Cultural Leadership, School of Art and Design, University of New South Wales, and an undergraduate in Fine Art, University of Newcastle.

HOLLY FARRELL
CURATOR

Holly Farrell is responsible for coordinating The Lock-Up’s cultural programs, marketing and communications. She is the key contact for artists, curators and exhibition installation and works with the Artistic Director to coordinate program delivery. She also manages The Lock-Up and its team of volunteers, install and support staff. She has worked on numerous curatorial projects such as +++I’M GOING THROUGH CHANGES+++, ELEMENTS: SAM SMITH and PLAYGROUND. She has extensive experience coordinating multidisciplinary arts festivals and arts event management. Holly has over a decade of experience working within various public, commercial and independent arts organisations and holds a Master in Curating & Cultural Leadership graduating with Excellence at the School of Art and Design, University of New South Wales.

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

Newcastle Historic Reserve Land Manager, on behalf of NSW State Government Department of Crown Lands, is responsible for the conservation, management and cultural use of three heritage listed government buildings including the former Newcastle Police Station and Lock-Up (1861).

GILLEAN SHAW – CHAIR

Currently Art Curator for University of Newcastle, its Galleries, Museum and Collection and has curated independent projects for arts and history organisations such as The Lock-Up, Maritime Museum and the Lovett Gallery. She has previously worked in public programs, visitor services and exhibition installation at the Newcastle Art Gallery and was the Curator at The Lovett Gallery. She holds Masters by research in the Presentation of Material Culture, particularly as it relates to historic buildings and collections.

STEPHEN MCLEAN – CO-CHAIR

Working as the Property Projects Manager for Reflections Holiday Parks, Stephen’s senior management leadership experience has been developed by having excelled in public and private sector organisations. His skills and expertise included multi-site, multi-services operations management, business planning, strategy and execution, customer and stakeholder relationship management, human resource management, workplace change and risk management, tender writing, response and assessment, and internal and external compliance and quality auditing.

ANNETTE MORRISSEY – TREASURER

Annette is a Chartered Accountant with approximately 25yrs experience in a senior financial management and advisory capacity for the commercial, NFP and government sectors. Management Accountant Asset Delivery for the Australian Rail Track Corporation, Annette’s expertise includes project management; governance; budgeting; strategic planning; risk management; taxation; leadership development; change management; IT systems exploitation; financial management, advice and reporting; and financial sustainability.

JOHN CARR

An architect with over forty years experience with NSW Public Works, John was the Project Architect for the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music Performance Hall for the Australian Bi-Centennial in 1988. John has been a Trustee for over twenty years and specialises as a heritage consultant.

CATHERINE CROLL

Kate is the founding director of Cultural Partnerships Australia Programming Sub- Committee and has held the position of Director Special Projects at Red Gate Gallery, Beijing since 2009. She is an arts patron, collector and practitioner with extensive experience in the management of multi faceted cultural exchange projects and international touring exhibitions.

ROSEMARIE MILSOM

Rosemarie Milsom is the founding director of the Newcastle Writers Festival, one of Australia’s largest regional literary festivals. The 10th event will be held in 2022. She has been an award-winning journalist, mainly with Fairfax Media in Sydney and Newcastle. More recently she has worked as a broadcaster with ABC Emergency. In 2019, she was selected to participate in the Australia Council for the Arts’ Leadership Program. Rosemarie is chair of Hunter Creative Alliance and is a member of Create NSW’s Literature Advisory Board. Rosemarie is also a respected facilitator and has hosted events with leading public figures such as Julia Gillard, Nigella Lawson, Peter Garrett, and Richard Flanagan.

KRISTEN TOLA

Kristen Tola is a Heritage Consultant in the cultural heritage sector. She is a graduate of the Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies from Deakin University specialising in heritage practice, with interest in the integration of heritage conservation into planning and urban development strategies. Kristen draws on experience working at Newcastle Museum and the City of Newcastle, where she combined her cultural heritage and museum studies qualifications in museum management, support of the Fort Scratchley Historic Site volunteer group, grant management, heritage interpretation, local government processes, stakeholder relationships, the Museum Shop and customer experience.

VOLUNTEERS