Robert Leonard
Director
Robert Leonard (he/him) is an art curator and writer with over three decades of experience. He has returned to the Director’s seat, having earlier led the IMA from 2005 to 2013. In New Zealand, he held curatorial posts at Auckland Art Gallery, City Gallery Wellington, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Plymouth’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, and Wellington’s National Art Gallery, and also directed Auckland’s Artspace. He was the curator of New Zealand pavilions at the Venice Biennale in 2003 and 2015.
Contact: director@ima.org.au
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Nicholas Aloisio-Shearer
Assistant Director Program
Nicholas Aloisio-Shearer (he/him) is an artist and arts worker with ten years of experience in the industry. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has worked at Artspace, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, and as a lecturer and tutor at the University of Technology Sydney and Queensland College of Art. He holds a Bachelor of Design with Honours in Photography and Situated Media from UTS and a Masters of Fine Art (Research) from the University of New South Wales.
Contact: nick@ima.org.au
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Odette Miller
Assistant Director Marketing and Development
Odette Miller (she/her) is an arts worker and marketer with almost a decade of experience spanning visual arts, placemaking, and tertiary education. She returns to Brisbane via Hobart, where she held roles at Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) and the University of Tasmania. Her work as a marketing consultant includes the AACTA-nominated film Franklin (2022) and Documentary Australia’s The Climate Changers (2023). Miller is also an investment sub-committee member on the board of Regional Arts WA. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Queensland.
Contact: odette@ima.org.au
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Madeline Brewer
Manager Public Programs and Education
Madeline Brewer (she/her) is a curator and program producer. Prior to joining us, she directed The Condensery in Toogoolawah, where her projects included group shows The Way Things Grow (2025) and Volatile Terrain (2025) and solo shows of Sancintya Mohini Simpson, Miguel Aquilizan and Jessica Dorizac, Hiromi Tango, Tay Haggarty, and Jonathan McBurnie. She has also held positions at National Gallery of Australia and National Museum of Australia in Canberra, and Rockhampton Museum of Art. She has a Bachelor of Art History and Curatorship from the Australian National University, Canberra.
Contact: madeline@ima.org.au -
India Kapernick-Philippi
Marketing Coordinator and Development Assistant
India Kapernick-Philippi (she/her) is an arts worker with experience in marketing, visitor engagement, and community arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Professional Writing and Communication from the University of Queensland. She previously held positions at UQ Art Museum, Society of Fine Arts, and Art from the Margins.
Contact: india@ima.org.au
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Hen Mills
Production Coordinator
Hen Mills (they/them) is an arts worker and artist whose work involves kinetic sculpture and poetry, repurposed waste and expanded sound. As an experienced gallery technician, they work with artists, art galleries, and community groups to provide technical services and facilitate workshops.
Contact: production@ima.org.au
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Natalie Catalan
Gallery Store and Front of House Manager
Natalie Catalan (she/her) is a writer and arts worker with experience in visitor engagement, events, and distribution. Her interests span contemporary art, experimental literature, and independent publishing, and her practice explores interdisciplinary approaches to text, image, technology, and performance. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative and Professional Writing, with a minor in Law, from Queensland University of Technology.
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Shaelee Craze
Gallery Coordinator
Shaelee Craze (she/her) is an artist and arts worker with experience in events, support, and technical and creative production. Her practice explores the intersection of sound, music, and voice, spanning installation, poetry, and performance. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music from Queensland University of Technology, where she was twice awarded the Executive Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence.
Contact: shae@ima.org.au
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Lawrence English
Curator of Mono
Lawrence English (he/him) is an artist, composer and curator based in Australia. Working across an array of aesthetic investigations, English’s work explores the politics of perception and prompts questions of field, agency and memory. He is a Sidney Myer Creative fellow, was awarded an outstanding doctorial thesis award in conjunction with his PhD in 2017 and has been supported by the Mike Kelley Foundation for his public artwork project in Los Angeles, Seirá.
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Zoë Connolly
Chair
Zoë Connolly (she/her) is an experienced strategist and fundraising specialist with over twelve years’ experience championing the arts and not for profit sector. Her work is focused on building sustainable and ethical revenue models for non-profit organisations. She has raised over $20M for arts and non-profit organisations through philanthropic support, corporate sponsorships, appeals and grants. Zoë is currently Executive Director Philanthropy and Partnerships at Queensland Performing Arts Centre, having previously worked for Queensland Theatre, and Queensland Ballet. -
Christina Cho
Deputy Chair
Christina Cho (she/her) is a registered architect and national director of Cox Architecture, an international multi-disciplinary practice. She has worked in San Francisco, Seoul, and throughout Australia on diverse range of projects. She is Adjunct Professor of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning at University of Queensland. Christina was co-organiser of PechaKucha Night Brisbane for ten years, curating and providing a platform for over five-hundred creatives from diverse backgrounds to learn, exchange ideas and collectively contribute to the culture of Brisbane. Christina continues to use public engagement to facilitate open and collective dialogue and advocate for design’s positive influence on our city. -
Alan Pigott
Treasurer
Alan Pigott (he/him) is a non-executive director and advisor with 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 Future. 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 twelve years working in the payments and eCommerce industry. -
Judy Brien
Secretary
Judy Brien (she/her) is an experienced barrister. Her diverse practice spans a broad range of areas including planning and environment, judicial review, mining, environmental authorities and enforcement, native title, local government, determination of compensation for land, infrastructure and general litigation. She has advised or acted in proceedings for and against the Commonwealth and State of Queensland, Ministers and related entities, various local governments, indigenous representative bodies, companies and private individuals. Judy was admitted to practice as a barrister and commenced at the private Queensland Bar in January 2003. Prior to this she practiced as a solicitor in Brisbane from the mid 1990’s. -
Leighton Craig
Board Director
Leighton Craig (he/him) is a musician/artist born in Aotearoa and based in Meanjin. For over twenty-five years Leighton has pursued a minimal approach to creating keyboard works, field recordings, sound installation, songs, and works on paper. He has released an extensive discography of solo and group recordings on international and domestic independent record labels, and has played in numerous bands (The Lost Domain, The Deadnotes, Fig. et al). He is currently a member of the duo Primitive Motion. Leighton has experience in the public sector and has worked in a diverse range of policy and project settings including constitutional, law and justice policy, disaster relief, community engagement, strategic communications, and corporate governance. -
Tarun Nagesh
Board Director
Tarun Nagesh (he/him) is the Curatorial Manager of Asian and Pacific Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, Australia. Tarun is actively involved in commissions and acquisitions for the QAGOMA collection and also oversees QAGOMA’s historical Asian Art collection and exhibitions. He is a regular contributor to journals and exhibition publications in Australia, is state representative of The Asian Arts Society of Australia, and a member of the national Asian Art Provenance Research panel. Prior to joining QAGOMA in 2011, Tarun worked in the commercial arts sector in Melbourne. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Honours in Visual Arts from Monash University, and a Masters of Art Curatorship from Melbourne University. -
Courtney Pedersen
Board Director
Courtney Pedersen (she/her) is an artist, and Senior Lecturer in Visual Arts at QUT. She was previously the Academic Program Director for the School of Creative Practice and the Head of Discipline for Visual Arts. Her research interests include gender, creative practice-led research, and visual arts pedagogy. She completed her PhD, an exploration of feminism, genealogy and social history through public installation art, in 2005. Originally trained in photography, her research brings together feminist and creative practice-led methodologies. She has been a member of the reviews editorial team for the peer-reviewed Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, was a co-director of the feminist artist collective LEVEL, and a board member of Boxcopy Contemporary Art Space in Brisbane. -
Trish Szonert
Board Director
Trish Szonert (she/her) is an accomplished interior designer, and art collector. She is Director of MMO Interiors, a small, busy firm that takes on clients ranging from high-end, large-scale developments to residential and retail projects. Trish has a keen eye and has curated an extensive collection of work from contemporary artists. She is a Friend of the Melbourne Art Fair, and Brisbane liason for the Sydney Contemporary. Trish served as part of Artisan’s Curatorium for Unleashed 2024.
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Mandy Quadrio
Dr Mandy Quadrio is a Trawlwoolway and Laremairemenner artist, researcher, and lecturer. Her research and teaching in Griffith University's Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art program spans visual communication, Indigenous art, culture and politics. Quadrio works across sculpture, and video, using steel wool as medium to reclaim and foreground indigenous culture. She has a strong background in the government and private sector areas of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy and service delivery. -
Jody Rallah
Jody Rallah is a Yuggera and Biri artist. Her multidisciplinary practice is grounded in a deep reverence for materials, place, and intergenerational wisdom. She embraces a Country-echoed approach to storytelling, where material and place become active participants. Her work holds threads of living history, connection, memory, and healing, while creating space for knowledge to be carried forward. -
Keemon Williams
Keemon Williams is a queer interdisciplinary artist and curator of Koa, Kuku Yalanji, Meriam Mir, and South Sea Islander descent. His practice considers queer, Indigenous, and Australian experiences as lived in the shadow of colonisation, drawing on humour, memory, and the language of production. Williams is currently Assistant Curator, Indigenous Australian Art at QAGOMA.
