A trio of accolades for QPAC team

Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) has a team committed to lifelong learning through the arts, and delivering excellence in venue management and cultural experiences. Recently, this commitment was put in the spotlight for three members of the QPAC team who received awards for their outstanding individual achievements in management, governance and utilising art as a way of understanding the world.

Late last year, QPAC Scholar in Residence, Professor Judith McLean, and her Queensland University of Technology (QUT) team were announced as joint winners of the Innovative Leadership and Workforce category at 2017 Queensland Health and Department of Health Awards for Excellence for their Creative Development Program in Leadership.

Professor McLean’s role is to link policy, art making and teaching, and support both QPAC and QUT in bridging complex thought and practical application. Her current research centres on brain based learning and its relationship with the arts with a particular focus on how cultural institutions like QPAC can collaborate with audiences to heighten the significance of art in everyday life.

Professor McLean, along with Dr Georgia Seffrin and Lowanna Dunn, co-design and lead innovative leadership programmes across many parts of Queensland Health and this award celebrates their ongoing work, including a three-year partnership with the Queensland Ambulance Service. Their practice is distinguished by its hands-on, brain based and arts based approach.

Georgia Hendy – QPAC’s Executive Producer for Commercial Programming and Venue Hire – achieved an outstanding result in her Venue Management Association (VMA) studies. VMA offers venue industry members the opportunity to draw on the experience of their industry peers to expand their thinking, upgrade their skills and keep abreast of industry trends and plans.

In 2016, Georgia won the Year 1 scholarship which provided her with free tuition for Year 2 studies. Georgia has now completed the Year 2 course where she has once again topped the class and has been awarded an opportunity to travel to West Virginia, USA to attend the International Association of Venue Managers Graduate Institute course.

Georgia Hendy

Jayne Staddon, Manager – Legal and Governance at QPAC, was recently awarded the State Chairman’s Award by the Governance Institute of Australia (Queensland Branch) for outstanding contribution to the Governance Institute.

The Governance Institute is a national independent professional association focusing on whole-of-organisation governance and providing education, support and networking opportunities for directors, company secretaries, governance advisers and risk managers. It is associated with a range of international governance and chartered secretary associations.

Jayne received the State Chairman’s award in recognition of her substantial contribution to the Governance Institute and in particular the Queensland Branch, including as a guest presenter of post graduate guest lectures and training courses, Course Director for three years and through sharing her expertise with colleagues beginning their careers in the governance profession. This award is great recognition of Jayne’s efforts and expertise in her profession and is further evidence of the value she provides not only to QPAC, but also to her field.

Jayne Staddon

QPAC proudly embraces these examples of industry best practice and the contributions its entire team delivers in the development of creative approaches that ensure the sustainability of the live performance industry.

Visit Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s website here.