ARTS DINNERS MAY 2022

Your ticket includes entry to the festival from 5 pm Saturday, dinner and a beverage voucher.  

If you are already attending the festival, you will still need to register for the ARTS DINNER.

Valkyrie Blacksmith has held creative, administrative and management roles in the Arts sector for over 25 years. This has been primarily in delivering event, venue management and community cultural development for local government. 

Prior to and alongside, Valkyrie is a licensed pyrotechnician who specialises in large scale fire installations, for over 20 years with Woodford Folk Festival, Dark Mofo and other special  events across the country.  

Valkyrie is an advocate for regional community arts and has been a founding member for local arts organisations, owned an art gallery representing 45 regional artists and been the Art Director for companies providing artistic services, production and entertainment solutions.

Jo Davies sees Community Arts as a potent means of communication that give humans ways to connect, and ways to understand and digest very complex situations and information. 

When Jo and her husband, Rob, first moved to the Scenic Rim 20 years ago, they jumped into local the local arts community, boots and all.

Jo has been Creative Director and writer of the community theatre production called 'Imprints - The Show' with a total of 250 people; directed two of the community theatre performances that were part of the ‘What’s your 10’ event; established the Boonah Community Choir; developed a performance character called 'Madam Mulch', who has made multiple appearances in communities, among other endeavours.

Jo is a fibre artist, primarily focused on the use of wool and silk in felt making, as well as exploring the use of dried plant materials, natural dyes and inks.

Natasha Edwards is the Co Founder, Artistic Director, and Curator of the iconic SWELL Sculpture Festival in South-East Queensland.

In addition to curating and overseeing 18 years of SWELL, Natasha’s recent projects include work as curator of the ANZAC Day 100 Year centenary Poppies Project, curator of the Brisbane Airport Corporation ‘Art with Altitude’ exhibition and public art programming for the Gold Coast Rapid Transport Light Rail bid, Palm Beach Parklands, Surfers Paradise Alliance and installations for the Woodford Folk Festival.

Awarded the City of Gold Coast 2013 Australia Day Cultural Achievement Award and an honorary life member of the Sculptors Society Gold Coast, Natasha is a dedicated and a passionate supporter of sculpture in public spaces, connecting people, art and place.

Dee Steinford is the Executive Director of the iconic SWELL Sculpture Festival in South-East Queensland.

Dee’s focus is on facilitating a connecting between people, art, culture and business. Dee has a Bachelor of Business majoring in Accounting and has worked in the arts and culture industry for years on many projects.

Dee’s passion for and appreciation of art combined with extensive accounts and finance work in both private and not for profit companies has led Dee to where she is today. Being an integral part of the SWELL Team for eight years with roles ranging from Volunteer Manager, Accounts Manager, Creative Producer, and Executive Director since 2018, Dee brings with her, the skill of high-level people management, operational and business nous.

With a background possessing 45 years' experience in museum exhibitions, Paul Stumkat has cultivated skills in Palaeontology, Dinosaur Sculpture and Display Design and construction. Various awards for sculpture over the past 45 years have been presented to him with major commissions awarded by prestigious institutions such as the Queensland Museum, National Parks and Wildlife, and others.

In 2002, he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study dinosaur sculpting techniques in Canada, America and England. Information gathered from this scholarship has been shared with museums and relevant societies and informs sculpture workshops that he holds throughout the year.

For six years he has worked as the curator of Palaeontology for Outback Queensland’s best fossil museum Kronosaurus Korner. Renovating a major gallery and repatriating and displaying Australia’s most complete vertebrate fossil the Richmond Polycotylid, a 100 myo large extinct marine reptile as well as creating numerous scientific models for the museums display galleries.