1. Zigs & Zags in a varied working life (so far)*

In 2018, I co-founded an arts services NFP called Creative Alliance Ltd. We delivered a range of important services and programs for artists across SE Queensland over 5 years including through Covid. It was an incredibly rewarding time but also very draining. One of the most enjoyable projects ‘popped-up’ just before our Board decided to wind the company down.

We tendered for and won a contract with City of Moreton Bay to deliver the Moreton Place Identity Co-design Workshops in 2022. Working alongside fellow directors Dr Sue Davis OAM & Aunty Debra Bennet Deb Bennett, Kabi Kabi (Lyndon Davis) and Jinibara (BJ Murphy) artists and Jimmy Patch (Patch Creative) we delivered a series of co-design workshops with artists from the Moreton Region to explore the place qualities across the region. Participants (who were paid an honorarium for their time) used a range of art media (drawing, collage, pop-up poetry, etc) to enquire and capture the local identity of 5 sub-regions within the LGA. Workshop outputs were then synthesised into a series of beautiful illustrations by Jimmy as part of the innovative ‘Place Identity Study’. This project now shapes the on-going development of communities across the Moreton Bay region.

?This project reminded me that the way artists and creative practitioners see the world is incredibly nuanced and powerful. It also shows how these observations can be used to help define our community identity and practically influence the decisions we can make in creating, preserving and thinking about our urban, regional and rural places. It was a bold and insightful project initiated by the Urban Design Team at the City of Moreton Bay and a real joy to be part of.

*I recently commented here that I’ve enjoyed a varied career in architecture and urban design saying “long may it zig and zag!”. I received several messages from colleagues who felt creatively hamstrung by the ‘standard path’ of architecture. Of course, there is no such thing. Architects benefit from an amazing education and a wildly and widely applicable skillset with almost infinite potential to serve our community. This series mentions a few of the nourishing projects and experiences I’ve had that will constantly keep me ‘lifting my gaze’.