David Spencer, Chair

I am a Board member because I know I will bring worthy insight as a practicing artist, my skills as a state manager and importantly, what I've learnt through my own life experiencesd - both the triumphs and failures. I will bring empathy and honesty with a focus on how we can bring Artsource's strategic plan with an energised articulation on our purpose. Do people that aren't artists know what we do or who we are?

I want to understand the inner workings of Artsource, develop and progress change, and seek to attain a more prominent status with the public and arts community. I want Artsource to be WA's premier arts body and creativity hub - and why shouldn't it be? A key ambition is to activate and take advntage of stunning assets such as Old Customs House.

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David joined the Board in August 2021.

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Dr. Kelsey Ashe, Deputy Chair

Dr. Kelsey Ashe is a contemporary artist, writer and curator who has extensive experience in the fields of Art, Exhibition, Education, and Event Management. Kelsey has regularly exhibits nationally and internationally and maintains a committed art practice as an in-studio Artist at Old Customs House.

Actively engaged in her community; curating inter-disciplinary exhibitions frequently (under the moniker Dark Swan Exhbitions), Kelsey has successfully secured 10 seperate grants from the Department of Culture and the Arts and the City of Fremantle over the last decade, to deliver high impact events that attract a wide audience reach. Kelsey mentors and supervises Postgraduate and Undergraduate Art and Design students as part of her role as a lecturer at Curtin University, including leading Research groups of PhD students in the field of the Australian Ocean Gothic.

The aesthetic and prose Kelsey has developed draws from themes within Austral-Asian inter-cultural studies, constructed mythologies and ficto-critical narrative. Grounded in motifs of the Antipodean landscape, her work seeks to comrehend the hidden, mysterious, and deeply powerful sense of the sublime within the landscape and our earthly and human relationship to it.

Kelsey regularly publishes her creative and academic writing in peer reviewed outlets in print and oneline, and has held positions as co-editor for the Fremantle Biennale's monograph 'Bilya Bidi: Crossings' and 'The Debutante; Feminist Surrealist Arts Journal' in Edinburgh, UK. 

Kelsey joined the Board in October 2022.


Contact Kelsey >


Taylor Denning, Secretary

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Taylor Denning (b.1995) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Perth, WesternAustralia.  Working across a variety of mediums, her practice draws on personal narratives and exposes intimate moments that define family life. In the hope of creating a deeper connection to the viewer, Denning reflects on the intricate nature of familial relationships and the challenges faced by physical separation.

Taylor graduated from Curtin University in 2016 with First Class Honours, Bachelor of Fine Arts. Since then, she was employed for four years as the Visual Arts Technician at Wesley College in South Perth. During this time, she also volunteered to support and assist the Fremantle Biennale and The Lester Prize for Portraiture.  Denning has been a studio resident at The Old Customs House, Artsource Fremantle since May 2019.

Denning achieved First Prize in the City of South Perth's Emerging Artist Acquisitive Award in 2015 and has exhibited in a selection of group shows across Perth and Melbourne.  She exhibited her first solo show at The Hive Art Space in 2017 and was elected as University Associate and Artist in Residence at Curtin University for Semester One in 2018.
 
More recently, Denning partnered with The Farm Margaret River in hosting her second solo show 'Ethereal' for one week in January 2021.  Over 130 people attended the opening event and the artworks sold out over the duration of the exhibition.  Denning has been working on commissioned paintings ever since.
 
Taylor joined the Board in June 2021.

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Peter Crommelin, Treasurer

Peter joins Artsource to provide commercial and financial assistance to the board. He has been successfully managing and establishing businesses for over 20 years. Prior to this Peter was a Chartered Accountant with a focus on investment banking.

He has a passion for supporting the arts and for working with community based organisations. He was previously on the Board of RTRFM for 7 years and assisted in the successful process of moving from UWA to Mt Lawley. More recently he was Chair of an independent school board, with a specific focus on governance and strategic advice.

Peter joined the board in November 2021. 

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Kassia Ralston

Kassia is an engineer and graduate of the 2020 Emerging Leaders in Governance program, designed to develop young professionals for board leadership in the community sector. Kassia has experience working for global engineering design firms Arup and AECOM in project management roles on major public infrastructure projects involving placemaking and public art. Kassia is an elected member of the Engineers Australia (peak body for engineers) WA Divisional Committee and also serves on the Cura In-Home Care Management Committee.

She hopes to contibute to Artsource members and the Board leadership and strategic guidance support drawing from her diverse experiences as an engineering leader, Australian athlete, and her not-for-profit and peak body volunteer leadership roles. Kassia also wishes to engage with Western Australian visual artists and help bring people and ideas together so that visual artists can flourish and do what they do best.

Kassia grew up in Walyalup/Fremantle and is an avid water sportsperson who participates in swimming, water polo, surf lifesaving and sailing.

Kassia joined the Board in July 2021. 

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Bruno Booth 

I am a practicing contemporary artist who exhibits regularly throughout Australia. In addition to my practice I have been the Exhibition Coordinator for PICA, a panel member for the Australia Council for the Arts, a facilitating artist for Performing Lines creative hub and the recipient of numerous grants and awards. I know what's happening in our local arts community and see ways that we as Artsource could improve this for everyone.

Bruno joined the Board in October 2022.

Contact Bruno >



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As the representative voice and supportive body for Western Australian visual artists, Artsource has an important role to play. Joining the Board provides me with an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the organsiation as it continues to strengthen and hone its scope within the sector.

The privilege to work in the Arts as an artist, educator and manager has provided me with a well-rounded perspective on and developed understanding of the crucial role artists fulfil in society. Over 15+ years I've developed a breadth of knowledge and skills traversing the private and local government sectors, festivals, arts advocacy, visual and community arts, studio and grants management and board governance.

As an early career installation artist, I am interested in our relationship with time in the contemporary first-world. Water, light, fire, and sand are central to my practice; materials with broad symbolic currency and an ability to mark time through movement and/or changes in state.

Mid-2023 I will complete a Master of Research (Fine Art). I currently hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours), Graduate Certificate in Design and Art (Distinction) and a Graduate Diploma in both Arts Management and Secondary Education (Visual Arts and Media).

Mandy joined the Board in November 2022.

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