Keep your teaching current and connected. The Industry Connections for teachers series provides a forum to meet artists, designers and other arts industry professionals and leaders. Learn about their practice and careers and gain insight into the diverse roles and opportunities in creative industries through informal discussion and illustrated presentations.  

Speakers: Maree Clarke and Mitch Mahoney 

Maree Clarke is a Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung woman who grew up in northwest Victoria, mainly in Mildura, on the banks of the Murray River. Maree has been a practicing artist living and working in Melbourne for the last three decades. She is a pivotal figure in the reclamation of southeast Australian Aboriginal art practices, reviving elements of Aboriginal culture that were lost – or laying dormant – over the period of colonisation, as well as a leader in nurturing and promoting the diversity of contemporary southeast Aboriginal artists. 

Mitch Mahoney is a proud Boon Wurrung artist and cultural educator who consults at Bunjilaka Melbourne Museum, Science Gallery and Footscray Arts Centre. Mitch regularly collaborates with his Aunt, Maree Clarke. Together they have produced significant commissions for the NGV and the Metro Tunnel Project. Mitch is focused on Indigenous Bio-Design in his practice with projects including The Biodegradable Eel Trap and Seven Canoe’s project.  

1 hour
Cost: Free

Learning Objectives

• Identify critical and creative thinking in individual art and design practices
• Generate examples of various components of the art process (exploration, experimentation, development, refinement and resolution)
• Connect with an artist, designer, other arts industry professional or leader and discuss their practice and career
• Recognise the diverse roles and opportunities in the creative industries
• Build professional capacity to provide ideas, inspiration, practical ideas and contemporary professional practice within learning communities