Arts Mansfield was fortunate to attract the interest of five esteemed judges for the Klytie Pate Ceramics Award this year.

Here are some details about them:

Melinda Martin, Director of Linden New Art, City of Port Philip.:

Under her leadership, since 2012, Linden has built a reputation as one of ‘must visit’ contemporary public art galleries in Melbourne. Prior to that role, Melinda was with Creative Partnerships Australia, Gallery Manager at Anna Schwartz Gallery and Program Manager at Monash Gallery of Art. She holds a Masters of Fine Art & Cinema Studies, a Post-Graduate in Museum Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art and Criminology. Melinda was a member of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria’s Board from 2013 to 2018, serving as Vice President of the Board from 2014-16.

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Rebecca Coates is an established curator, writer and lecturer. She has been the Director of Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) since 2015. Under her leadership, SAM has become recognised for a program of exhibitions that are locally relevant and engage with global contemporary ideas and for its collection strengths in ceramics and Indigenous art.

Rebecca has worked extensively as a curator in Australia and overseas, at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, the National Gallery of Victoria and Museum of Modern Art Oxford (MOMA Oxford). She is a Board member of the Public Galleries Association Victoria, was a board member of the Australian Tapestry Workshop; Chair, City of Melbourne Public Art Advisory Panel; and a member of the Stonnington Arts Advisory Panel.

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Anthony Knight is the Director of Beleura Country House and Garden and Ingrid Hoffman is the curator.

Anthony Knight is a recognised creative talent sought for his public speaking, curatorial and private collection management skills. He is the managing consultant to the decorative arts Museum Beleura at Mornington, Victoria; Director of the Tallis Foundation, a charitable Trust involved in the decorative arts
Board member of the Council of the National Trust of Australia
Member of the Attingham Society and; Chief consultant to the decorative arts Museum Beleura at Mornington, Victoria.

In 2007 Anthony was awarded the Order of Australia medal -OAM for service to heritage conservation and the arts in Victoria, particularly through the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and associated organisations, and through the promotion of Indigenous art.

The magnificent Beleura Country House and Garden houses several separate collections of around 25,000 objects!. The original collection belongs to the house, where homewares, antique furniture and paintings chosen by Sir George Tallis and his son reveal how people lived in the past. More recently Beleura built two further collections, one of fine musical instruments and the other, a treasury of ceramic art by Klytie Pate.

Beleura’s Klytie Pate Treasury is Australia’s largest collection of work by twentieth-century ceramicist, Klytie Pate. In 2015 the generous gifts of Dr Will Twycross –- financial and ceramic – made the Treasury room possible.

Ingrid Hoffman is a senior curator, gallery director and cultural advocate. Ingrid’s career includes Regional Manager, Arts Queensland and roles in the State Library of Queensland, Cairns Regional Gallery and the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery.

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Emma Busowsky Cox is a curator and writer from Naarm (Melbourne) with specialisation in Australian art, exhibitions, collections and museums. Currently Curator at Bendigo Art Gallery, Emma has worked in the Australian art museum sector since 2003. Prior to her role at Bendigo Art Gallery, Emma was the Curator at Castlemaine Art Museum and Curator of the Deakin University Art Collection. Emma has curated a number of exhibitions including Daughters of the Sun: Christian Waller & Klytie Pate at Bendigo Art Gallery, as well as John Nixon: EPW; Bill Henson: Landscapes (co-curator); i heart rock (rock is the total work of art); and Katherine Hattam: Desire first 1978–2015.

Emma spent her early career at the National Gallery of Victoria in the Public Programs department. Emma holds a Master of Cultural Heritage and a Bachelor of Arts with first class Honours from Deakin University.