Alumni

Bill Henson is one of Australia's best-known contemporary photographers – but it was not always thus. As the First Commissions art project launches ahead of an exhibition in Melbourne on 27 and 28 July, he tells Mireille Stahle about his early years as an artist. ...

A major Australian arts project presented by the University of Melbourne has been launched at the feet of Michelangelo’s David, the world’s most famous statement on physical perfection, ahead of exhibitions in Florence and Melbourne this month....

The percussionist, composer, conductor and artistic director of Speak Percussion is known for tackling complex and ambitious art music projects. Here, he discusses his time at the Victorian College of the Arts. ...

After many years living between New York and Argentina, artist Janno McLaughlin completed a Master of Contemporary Art at the VCA in 2018. She paints and writes stories about hope, optimism, resilience and loss, and uses her art practice to highlight the plight of the most fragile in our community....

Adam Elliot completed his Post-Graduate Diploma in Animation at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1996. He went on to win the 2004 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, for the claymation film Harvie Krumpet. ...

Percussionist Hannes Lackmann was performing regularly on the Melbourne music scene after graduating – so what inspired this Jazz & Improvisation graduate to pursue teaching?...

VCA alumna Giulia McGauran wanted to be a nurse, studied drawing, and works now as a photographer. Here she tells us about her artistic inspirations, favourite shoots from the past year, and what she'd do with a million dollars. By Susanna Ling Hi Giulia, how did you end up at the VCA? I always thought I would be a nurse, but I was …

The Expert Hack Podcast sat down with Victorian College of the Arts alumna artist Professor Sally Smart to discuss how artists are influencing politics and social change....

Berlin was always part of the plan for Tillman Jex – and he knows how to make it work for him....

More than 100 young musicians will embark on their first international tour when the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra travels to Singapore and Shanghai later this month. Among the works being performed is the world-premiere of Tide by composer and arranger Alice Humphries ... although she won't be there to see it. ...

Melbourne artist Yandell Walton's work interacts with its environment in complex ways. So what effect will being in Berlin have on her practice?...

The Victorian College of the Arts' new outreach program aims to support students from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds. ...

Hell's Canyon, the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights' Award-winning play by Victorian College of the Arts graduate playwright Emily Sheehan, will show at the Old 505 Theatre in Sydney and La Mama in Melbourne in August and September. Ahead of their 1 August opening night, writer Sheehan and VCA Theatre graduate and Hell's Canyon actor Conor Leach talk about their teenage selves, writing …

Director of the Margaret Lawrence Gallery Dr David Sequeira shares his thoughts about Yours Internally, an exhibition of work by Kiron Robinson and Grant Stevens showing from 27 July–25 August ... and possibly gives the Backstreet Boys more poetic and artistic credit than they have enjoyed to date....

Storm is an interdisciplinary Symposium and Exhibition, co-hosted by the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music and the Faculty of Biomedicine at the University of Melbourne. We spoke to some of the contributors about their work and the meaningful collaborations art and science can inspire....

In a time characterised by fake news and political dishonesty, how are we to understand truth? Such is the subject of enquiry in Polygraph, part murder mystery, part love story and full boundary-pushing physical theatre that speaks truth to a "post-truth" era....

Victorian Opera's latest production is set to be bigger than Ben Hur. Ahead of opening night on 14 July, we caught up with former Melbourne Conservatorium of Music student and William Tell cast member Jeremy Kleeman to find out more....

Five films by Victorian of the Arts students and alumni are screening at this year's Melbourne International Film Festival. Here's the roundup. ...

Victorian College of the Arts graduate Anastasia Dyakova’s film Ready for a Baby has been shortlisted for the BAFTA Student Film Awards. She tells us about being shortlisted, and what’s next up in her animation career....

Of more than 4,200 short film submissions from more than 100 countries, works by eight Victorian College of the Arts Film and Television alumni have been selected. ...

As the VCA Dance 40th Anniversary Celebration (10 June) approaches, we ask some former students about their memories of the Victorian College of the Arts, and what they've been doing since. ...

Visual Art alumna Yvette Coppersmith has been awarded Australia's most distinguished portraiture prize for her self-portrait....

Actor, writer, director, and Victorian College of the Arts alumna Maude Davey tells us more about the VCA's new music theatre variety show, Mongrel. ...

Recent Film and Television graduate Nina Buxton felt compelled to make her short film, Mwah, after experiencing sexual harassment while riding alone one night. In the lead up to the film's screening at the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, she tells us more.  By Nina Buxton As soon as I graduated from Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts in …

The award-winning choreographer, educator, filmmaker and installation artist talks to Susanna Ling about her upcoming exhibition at the Victorian College of the Arts. By Susanna Ling Hi Sue, these days you’re an Honorary Fellow at the Victorian College of the Arts ... When did your relationship with the VCA begin? I came to the VCA in 1981 from New Zealand, and it was …

Billed as a perennial millennial who does cabaret like you've never seen it before, Louisa Wall's DIY approach to theatre and comedy is paying off, with a second solo show at the 2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. By Susanna Ling  I spot Louisa Wall walking down Melbourne's Southbank Boulevard, hands in the pockets of her bomber jacket, red Rapunzel hair. She comes …

Victorian Opera’s latest opera season celebrates Norman Lindsay’s enduring Australian classic children’s book, The Magic Pudding, which turns 100 this year. In the lead-up to the opening night of Calvin Bowman’s musical reinterpretation, we caught up with 2013 Melbourne Conservatorium graduate and acclaimed tenor Brenton Spiteri to find out more about The Magic Pudding – The Opera....

Nash's film Two Piece took the top prize at Tropfest 2018 this month. She and the film's producer – fellow VCA alumna Gillian Crosby – discuss their win. ...

Staff, graduate students and alumni of The University of Melbourne are eligible to apply for the ACMI X Residency program, which provides co-working opportunities for creative practitioners and researchers in moving image and digital arts technologies....

Alumna Greta Nash's film Two Piece took top honours at Tropfest 2018, and you can watch it here. By Sophie Duran Recent Film and Television alumna Greta Nash was awarded first place at Tropfest 2018, Australia's top short film festival, in an awards ceremony in Sydney on Saturday night. Her winning film, Two Piece, was selected from 16 finalists by a star-studded judging panel including Academy Award-winner Susan …

The Sidney Myer Free Concert Series has returned for another year, and we have some of the best seats in the house to give away....

VCA Director Professor Jon Cattapan remembers one of Australia's great abstract artists....

From the VCA to the Oscars: meet film and television alumna Polly Staniford....

Victorian College of the Arts Senior Lecturer in Theatre Dr Zachary Dunbar is the writer, director and producer of a riotously reimagined version of Sophocles’ Antigone, AntigoneX. He discusses his inspiration here....

Kate Daw, Head of Painting at VCA Art, has exhibited nationally and internationally since 1992, and has work in two current Melbourne exhibitions. She speaks with Paul Dalgarno about her life and career to date.

Five Victorian College of the Arts alumni were among the winners of the 7th Annual AACTA Awards, which were presented at an awards ceremony in Sydney on Wednesday 6 December. Oscar-nominated alumnus filmmaker Bentley Dean and his filmmaking partner Martin Butler were announced as this year's recipients of the Byron Kennedy Award for outstanding creative enterprise within the film and television industries. …

Victorian College of the Arts alumna Sarah Barton's documentary Defiant Lives introduces the world to the activists it's never heard of, and charts the rise of the disability rights movement.  By Sarah Hall “I’m tired of all the well-meaning non-cripples determining what I can and cannot do to form my life, and my future. Get out of our way.” So says Adolf Ratzka, one of …

With a foundation in acting and physical theatre, and a long-standing love of telling a good story, Nadine Dimitrievitch enrolled in the Master of Dance in order to develop her creative skills further. Having graduated earlier in the year, she reflects on the highlights and challenges of the course. Five years ago, I never would have imagined I'd complete a master’s …

Like many artists, Callum Dale took a circuitous route to finding his true passion. Now a recent Master of Dramaturgy graduate, he reflects on his experience at the Victorian College of the Arts and how he is preparing for the career ahead. Not all who wander are lost – and I've definitely my fair share of wandering. Like most high-school theatre …

The Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music are pleased to congratulate alumni who have been recognised in the 2017 Australia Council Fellowships. By Sarah Hall Among the eight recipients of the $80,000 Australia Council Fellowships for 2017, the Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music is pleased to congratulate alumna Stephanie Lake …

World-renowned visual artist and University of Melbourne Vice Chancellor’s Fellow Sally Smart will open a major solo exhibition at the Margaret Lawrence Gallery in Southbank this week. Professor Smart is known for her large-scale cut-out assemblage installations which engage identity, politics and the relationships between the body, thought and culture. In Staging the Studio (The Choreography of Cutting) Professor Smart explores the themes and …

In Staging the Studio, Sally Smart brings together artworks and ideas that form an incredibly perfect circle. Here, she explains.

Louris van de Geer started her performance writing career as a teenager. Now a Master of Writing for Performance graduate, she talks to Sophie Duran about how the VCA helped her develop as a writer, the challenges of working in the theatre industry, and her greatest achievement to date. I began writing plays in my first year out of high school. I …

It is with great sadness and shock that we heard the news this week that VCA Film and Television graduate, Cris Jones, had passed away aged 37. By Nicolette Freeman, Head of Film and Television, Victorian College of the Arts Cris Jones graduated from the VCA in 2002. I was fortunate enough to teach Cris in his second year (Bachelor of Film …

Jenni Little graduated from the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre) in 2015. Since then, she has performed in Follies: In Concert, The 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Kinky Boots. Here, she talks about how the VCA prepared her for a career on the stage. I knew on the day of the audition at the VCA was the right place …

What does it take to make a feature-length comedy about broken dreams, intense sibling rivalry and rethinking your place in the world? That's Not Me's Gregory Erdstein and Alice Foulcher have the answers. By Paul Dalgarno Gregory Erdstein and Alice Foulcher are adept at playing several roles concurrently. They’re married to each other. They make films together – most recently their debut …

Gillian Armstrong's debut My Brilliant Career was the first Australian feature to be directed by a woman in nearly half a century and set the path for an outstanding international career. As she looks forward to a festival screening not just of her own films but daughter Billie Pleffer's graduating film from the Victorian College of the Arts, she explains …

Graduating from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music to become captain of the Geelong Women's Football Team isn't an obvious career progression, but Bec Goring is kicking goals on several fronts.  By Sarah Hall Given the gender disparities in jazz and Australian Rules Football, to name just a couple of areas, women and gender-nonconforming people are used to playing with at least one hand tied …

Since graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2007, Alethea Jones has won numerous festival awards for her short films. Ahead of the release of her debut Hollywood feature, Fun Mom Dinner, she explains where she’s at and what’s coming next. By Paul Dalgarno Hi Alethea, what’s your life like at the moment, ahead of the release of Fun Mom …

In this new occasional series, we hear from Faculty of Fine Arts and Music students on what makes them tick, where they've been and where they're going. First up it's CJ Welsh, who recently graduated from the VCA's Master of Producing program.  My pathway to studying at the VCA was somewhat serendipitous. I finished an undergraduate degree in New Media at the ANU in …