ADELAIDE.- Nick Mitzevich, Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia has announced the appointment of Lisa Slade to the newly-created position of Assistant Director, Artistic Programs.

This new appointment is a key step in the Gallery’s long-term plan. Lisa will oversee staff and activities in curatorial, education and public programs. She brings extensive experience in education and learning initiatives, as well as a comprehensive background in curating and public programs. I look forward to Lisa moving into this new role to manage our artistic program, says Nick Mitzevich.

Lisa joined the Art Gallery of South Australia as Project Curator in 2011. This role has seen her curate notable exhibitions for the Gallery including HEARTLAND: Contemporary Art from South Australia (with co-curator Nici Cumpston), The extreme climate of Nicholas Folland and Paper, Ink and Ochre with the Museum of Economic Botany. She also managed the 2012 and 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art and is curating the 2016 Adelaide Biennial.

Lisa has brought a strong curatorial signature - one that brings the past into dialogue with the present - to her role at the Art Gallery of South Australia. In 2011 she staged an intervention in the Elder Wing of Australian Art by positioning the work of contemporary South Australian artists in conversation with the collection. In 2014, through the exhibition The extreme climate of Nicholas Folland, Lisa re-framed the traditional form of the monograph or survey exhibition by jostling contemporary works of art by Folland with works from the Art Gallery of South Australia’s collection. Along with the 2016 Adelaide Biennial, she is currently developing a national touring exhibition that brings together trench art and contemporary art.

In 2010 Lisa curated Curious Colony for Newcastle Art Gallery. During her time at Newcastle she also worked on Auto-Fetish, Strange Cargo, Poets Paint Words I and II and Paintings from remote communities: Indigenous Australian art from the Laverty collection. Working concurrently as an Associate Curator for the University of Queensland Art Museum, she curated Ben Quilty Live!, the first survey exhibition of Quilty’s work in 2009.

Lisa has also taught in secondary and tertiary contexts for over two decades. She currently lectures in several postgraduate courses delivered by Adelaide University in collaboration with the Art Gallery of South Australia. In her new role she will continue to work closely with Adelaide University to develop and implement tertiary programs in Art History and Curatorial and Museum Studies.

Lisa begins her new role in May.