STAFF

Liz Burcham
Chief Executive Officer

 

Liz says 17 years experience in the creative industries working for book publishers, newspaper and television companies in production and new business development is her school of hard knocks and perfect preparation for the diversity of challenges that face the Chief Executive Officer of Metro Arts.  Liz joined Metro Arts in 2003 to launch the Biz Arts MAkers program and took up the position as CEO at the beginning of 2006. She is undertaking a Professional Doctorate at QUT in Creative Industries to assist with gaining a deeper understanding of the valuable work Metro Arts is doing in the development of sustainable artistic practice. In the few hours Liz has left, she can be found on her property with her two Wheaten Terriers.

 

Ariel Beattie

Executive Assistant

Ariel has grown up surrounded by family and friends in the arts industry and so considers it natural to be working in a creative hub such as Metro Arts. After completing her Arts Administration traineeship she focused on expanding her skills in event production; working and volunteering for a mixed bag of arts festivals throughout Queensland and NSW. She is currently undergoing a Bachelor of Arts (English Literature and Art History) at the University of Queensland, where she also works at the UQ Art Museum. In her time off you'll find Ariel reveling in the endless world of live music and festivals.

Dan Evans

Co-ordinator, Programming (Performing Arts)

Daniel Evans is a writer, listener, libertine and pop aficionado. Partial to the fantastical and absurd, Daniel has written and directed numerous works for the stage including Holy Guacamole, Ivy Shambitt & The Sound Machine, The Reunion, Holidayz, Dirty Moles, Smother and an adaptation of Angela Carter’s The Lady of the House of Love. Daniel is mad keen about a) creating work with and for young people; b) bringing the stories of life’s Others to the fore, and c) collaboration. He is the Co-Director of the annual National Young Writers’ Festival a five-day event which happens as part of This Is Not Art in Newcastle in October and is a Senior Contributor to frankie magazine. His friends call him Dan.

 

Channon Goodwin

Co-ordinator, Programming (Visual Arts)

Channon is an artist who works predominantly in the medium of digital video and has exhibited locally and nationally in both group and solo exhibitions. Recent exhibitions include Great Expectations, a large-scale exhibition part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival, Heads You Lose, a collaborative exhibition for Blindside and The more you ignore me the closer I get, a screen based program for the University of Queensland Art Museum. In 2006 Channon completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Arts) with Honours at the QUT and is currently continuing his studies by undertaking a Master of Arts (Research). In 2007 he founded the local artist-run initiative, Boxcopy, with five other QUT visual art graduates. Prior to this, Channon worked as part of the Exhibitions Management team at the Queensland Art Gallery and as a tutor in Animation at QUT. 

 

Katrina Torenbeek

Producer, MAPS for Artists

Katrina has been working as a Producer and Project Manager across the festival and performing arts sectors for many years. As a Festival Producer she has worked for the Queensland Music Festival, QPAC’s Out of the Box Festival, Brisbane Festival – Earth Dialogues and Southbank Christmas Festival.  She has produced the Brisbane Cabaret Festival since the inaugural festival in 2000.  Katrina has also held producing and project management positions with the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and Drama Queensland as well as producing many independent productions including The Lady of the House of Love, Tom Waits for No Man, and A-Z of Cabaret . She has also held Events Management and Administration positions with Queensland University of Technology, State Library of Queensland, Drama Australia, IDEA – International Drama/Theatre and Education Association, Metro Arts, and the Queensland Theatre Industry Alliance.

Amanda Lawson

Manager, Marketing and Development 

Following a rather mortifying mishap with a prop while performing in a high school drama eisteddfod, Amanda felt her talents were better placed in an offstage capacity and she has been happily behind the scenes ever since. After graduating from university, Amanda has worked consistently in the Arts and entertainment industries with companies such as Universal Music Australia, Paramount Pictures Australia and Major Brisbane Festivals. Amanda brings a broad range of experience to Metro Arts including marketing, publicity and development and is enthusiastic about the opportunity to not only support independent artists but to also introduce a sponsorship program to assist in growing and sustaining Metro Arts and its valuable services for artists.

Chrissie Bernasconi

Marketing Assistant

Chrissie is so excited to have joined the Metro Arts team that she’s doing all she can to forget that she’s in her final year of study at QUT (BCI in performance studies and public relations) as well as working as a production manager, stage manager and performer on the side. Her most recent works include Audience Development Coordinator for Metro Arts Free Range 2010’s Room 328 and performing as an estranged version of herself in Vena Cava’s 31 Minutes. When not pretending to be busy and important, you could find her playing with her adorable pet mice, spending money she doesn’t have or daydreaming about a date with Lucy Lawless.

 

Genevieve Trace

Facilities Administrator

Brought up in North Queensland, Genevieve found her love of the arts in old time musicals.  Convinced that she was a graceful mix of Grace Kelly and Ginger Rogers, she took up several forms of dancing.  This was not to last.  In her later formative years Genevieve preoccupied herself with pushing her body to the extreme.  Now on the cusp of her sixth medical procedure to fix a limb Genevieve comes to Metro Arts.  As an artsworker, producer and performance maker, Genevieve’s previous works include Several Words Associated With Revenge, Transverse Fracture of the First Metacarpal and Room 328.  Genevieve is an avid skier and accepts bribes of chocolate coated almonds and daisies. She is overjoyed to join Metro Arts, proving that an arts degree was the right choice and that although she isn’t another Kelly or Rogers the arts can home even the most ungraceful of us.  

 

Aaron Barton

Venue Co-ordinator

Aaron doesn’t find it easy to talk about himself especially in third person, but after three months of reminders he’s succumbed to the task of the staff bio. Aaron has always been involved in the arts in some shape or form, but this has usually been in the music industry touring the country in his band. He spent two years as a graphic designer/illustrator in Brisbane, and some time working for Blunt magazine in Sydney. He also spent six months studying computer based design at university until he discovered that referencing and essay format was much more important to his teachers than quality of work. Working at Metro Arts has opened his world to the medium of theatre, and he loves working behind the scenes to keep the building functioning as a creative hub for local artists and performers. When Aaron’s not at Metro Arts you can find him on stage performing with his band in some dirty back street bar around Brisbane or reading in bed.
 

Joy Lane

Financial Manager

Joy joined Metro Arts in June 2008 as Finance Manager, with 30 years experience in business administration and financial management, including public company Financial Controller roles. Her extensive experience includes administration within the private health system; information technology sector; manufacturing, distribution and retail companies; the biotech sector, as well as the construction and creative industries. In her spare time, Joy can be found zipping around on her blue Vespa.

 

Siggi Slater

Administration Trainee

From an early age Siggi was determined to follow in her mother’s footsteps and delve into the wonderful world of the arts. She was thrilled when accepted to undergo an arts administration traineeship with Metro Arts and she continues to be inspired by the people that flow through the building. On weekends, Siggi can be found speeding around the burbs in her bright yellow 1957 Morris Minor or on the hammock reading something pretentious. She dreams of one day moving to France to master the accordion, hitting the streets with a baguette in hand, camembert cheese and a rather impressive back catalogue of Joy Division covers.