CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA.- The Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, today announced the appointment of a new member, the Hon Leigh Davis, and the reappointment of Judy Watson and Philip Wolfhagen to the Artbank Board.  

’I am very pleased to welcome Mr Davis, who brings considerable arts and business experience to the Board,’ Senator Kemp said.  

Mr Davis is the State Chairman of ABN AMRO Morgans. He was South Australia’s Shadow Minister for the Arts from 1985-9 and 1991-92, is a member of the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation and a supporter of the Carrick Hill Trust.  

’Ms Watson and Mr Wolfhagen will continue to share their experience with the Board and make a very important contribution as practicing artists.’  

Ms Watson is one of Australia leading Indigenous artists and has exhibited widely in Australia and overseas. She represented Australia in the Venice Biennale in 1997 in the exhibition fluent with fellow artists Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Yvonne Koolmatrie. Her work is held in the National Gallery of Australia, state galleries, and in international collections including the Auckland Art Gallery, Moet and Chandon in France, Centre Cultural Tjibaou Noumea, Taipei Fine Arts Museum and St Louis Art Museum, USA.  

Mr Wolfhagen is a contemporary landscape painter living outside Longford in Tasmania. He has built up an impressive following in Sydney and Melbourne and is represented in many state galleries and private collections. He has been the Chair of the Visual Arts, Crafts and Design panel of Arts Tasmania and a member of the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board.  

Artbank was established in 1980 to promote quality Australian contemporary art through its art rental scheme and to support Australian artists, particularly young and emerging artists by acquiring their work for the Artbank collection.  

Access to Artbank’s collection of nearly 9,000 works is available to all Australians and also overseas through Australian Embassies and High Commissions. 

’Artbank makes an important contribution to the continuing vitality of Australia’s contemporary art scene, and these appointments will help the organisation continue to grow and remain successful,’ Senator Kemp said.