Who we are
The Women’s Art Register is a not-for-profit organisation led by a professional team of artists and industry peers. Our membership is drawn from each state and territory in Australia.
Supported by our passionate group of members and volunteers, we work with a range of government, institutional and private partners. In particular, we value our long-held partnerships with the City of Yarra and the University of Melbourne, as well as our collaborations with local, national and international arts organisations and collectives.
Volunteers Leia Alex and Patsy Brown at the Women’s Art Register, 2020. Photo by Caroline Phillips.
Our vision
Australian women artists and their work are studied, celebrated, valued and represented fully and equally.
Our mission
We are Australia's peak resource for advocacy, education, knowledge and support for women artists.
Our values
We care for the Women's Art Register archive and for each other
We respect our volunteers and members
We are building a sustainable future for the Women's Art Register
We strive to amplify the voices of Australian women artists through leading research and advocacy
We facilitate social equity and improve access to the collection through innovative community programming
Our team
LEIA ALEX
Treasurer
Leia Alex is the daughter of an artist and an ornithologist (and yes, named after Princess Leia from Star Wars). She is a graduate of Georgetown University in the United States where she studied Culture & Politics, holding a Bachelor of Science in Art & Diplomacy from the School of Foreign Service. Leia previously served as Executive Director for Paintbrush Diplomacy and Festival Manager for the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival in Melbourne, and she currently works for AIME, wearing many hats and producing live shows with their touring theatre troupe. Leia's other passions and experience includes technical theatre, learning puppetry, and learning how to weave.
GABRIELLE DELGADO
Treasurer Support / General Member
Gabrielle Delgado is an arts and not-for-profit business professional, holding an MBA and an undergraduate degree in Communications and Business from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Currently, she supports the City of Melbourne's Creative Urban Places team, providing business administration and financial support to large-scale public art projects. In a professional capacity, she has supported non-profit and government entities such as the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders and the Victorian Government with change management and business experience. In her free time, Gabby is a dedicated volunteer within Melbourne's flourishing arts community at organisations like Prahran Community Learning Center, the Jewish Museum, and others. She is currently pursuing further postgraduate education at Deakin University in Museum Studies and Cultural Heritage, while maintaining her mixed media arts practice. From business acumen to creative expression, Gabby is proud to contribute to the archive and be an advocate for women artists.
KIRSTY GORTER
General Member
Kirsty Gorter has been an exhibiting artist, teacher and unionist for over 50 years. Teaching fulltime in Secondary (from 1981 - 1994), TAFE and most recently at fulltime at RMIT from 1994 - 2022 in the School of Fashion and Textiles. Active member Australian Education Union from 1983 (previously VSTA); AEU RMIT sub-branch president from 2006 -2022. First joined WAR in 1983 as member of WAR’s Advisory Committee 1985/88 & Management Committee 1988/991. Retired from RMIT in 2022 and enjoying creating and exhibiting new work. Looking forward to working with WAR and associates.
HILARY KWAN
Collection Management & Volunteer Coordinator
Hilary Kwan is an emerging conservator holding a Master of Cultural Materials Conservation and a BA in Anthropology and History from the University of Melbourne. She specialises in object conservation, with a research interest in the collection management and conservation of polymer materials in contemporary art. Hilary had previously worked at Museum Victoria as an exhibition assistant and had interned at the National Trust, Grimwade Conservation Services and the UMSU Archive. Moving from Hong Kong to Melbourne deepened her passion for preserving cultural materials and promoting cultural diversity. Since joining WAR in 2021, Hilary has been managing WAR volunteers and coordinating projects in cataloguing, collection management, preventive conservation, education programs and WAR events.
CLAUDIA PHARÈS
Inclusion & Accessibility Coordinator
Claudia Pharès is French-Canadian of Vietnamese-Egyptian descent. As an artist and a writer, she uses mother-centered feminism and autobiographical events to challenge misconceptions surrounding motherhood and invisible labour. In 2021–2022 she was guest editor of the W.A.R. Bulletin as well as the Artist-in-Residence in collaboration with And Also Presents. She has exhibited and collaborated in various shows in Australia and online. She was shortlisted as a finalist for the Percival Portrait Prize (2022), the Athenaeum Club Visual Arts Research Award (2019) and the Incinerator Art Gallery Award for Social Change (2018, 2021). She has been a recipient of the City of Yarra Grants (2018, 2020). She holds an MFA (2020) from the Victorian College of the Arts (University of Melbourne) and a BSc in Nursing (2004) from Laurentian University (Canada). Claudia lives in Naarm/Melbourne with her two children, and also works as a nurse.
CAROLINE PHILLIPS
Convenor | Development Coordinator
Caroline Phillips is a visual artist whose practice combines studio-based and collaborative projects that build feminist community. In her studio works Phillips uses sculpture and photography to reconfigure the abstract object as a contemporary feminist strategy. Her work has been exhibited in over 60 solo and group exhibitions at venues including NARS Foundation (NYC), George Paton Gallery (Melbourne), Cité International des Arts (Paris) and Slade Research Centre (London). Phillips holds a PhD from the Victorian College of the Arts (2017) and has published book chapters, catalogue essays and edited the Bulletin magazine. She has curated a number of projects including The f Word: contemporary femininst art in Australia (2014) at Gippsland Art Gallery and Ararat Gallery TAMA and was the 2020/21 Regional Ambassador (Oceania) for Art+Feminism.
MERREN RICKETSON
History & Education Coordinator
Merren Ricketson was a sessional educator at the National Gallery of Victoria for over 30 years, working concurrently coordinating W.A.R, co-directing Artmoves and initiating education programs at various galleries including ACCA. She curated Top Arts and managed the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s Season of Excellence Festival working with student artists, designers, performers, musicians and filmmakers for over a decade. She then studied Auslan and worked with Deaf artists who provided guided tours in Auslan at the NGV prior to Covid. More recently she devised and delivered education and public tours for the Flesh after Fifty exhibition.
KATE SMITH
Communications & Newsletter
Kate Smith is a visual artist and writer. Her practice centres around ‘a sense of place’, exploring the whimsical nature of landscape and story. Her works have been shown in multiple exhibitions in Melbourne including the Melbourne Flower and Art Show (2024), Gertie Gallery and Feel Good Art Prize (2024). She completed her BA of Creative Arts majoring in Art and Literature (Australian Catholic University). Kate is a passionate writer of art history and is currently working on children's book illustrations.
ELLIE THOMAS
Secretary
Ellie Thomas works with paper and contemporary time-based media as a conservator of cultural materials alongside an interdisciplinary research practice focusing on the arts and feminist critical psychology. After 10 years living between Aotearoa and Japan, Ellie returned to Naarm in 2022 and found an engaged and supportive community in the Women’s Art Register. Along with supporting conservation practices in the archive, Ellie works with cultural collections at the University of Melbourne, the NCM, and the University of Melbourne Student Union – the latter representing a wonderful intertwining of worlds through W.A.R’s longstanding connection with the George Paton Gallery. Through her research, Ellie was the recipient a scholarship from the University of Auckland, and in 2022 she received the Louise Perkins Prize in Art History. Ellie has a master of cultural materials conservation from the University of Melbourne and a BA in psychology and art history from the University of Auckland.
SUPPORTED BY THE CITY OF YARRA
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