Regional & Public Galleries NSW has announced Sabrina Roesner, Artistic Program Lead, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, as the recipient of the 2021 Alan Sisley Memorial Fellowship.
The Fellowship provides funds for a professional gallery staff member to dedicate time to research and develop ideas that will benefit their organisation in the areas of exhibition, collection, public programs, audience development and partnerships.
Recipient Sabrina Roesner will use the Fellowship to undertake research, develop resources, and report on best practice approaches to embedding environmental sustainability principles into the operations and programming of the NSW cultural sector.
The selection committee found Sabrina Roesner’s application stood out as a project that will have sustained benefit both for the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, and the sector more broadly.
Delighted with the announcement, Sabrina Roesner writes:
”I am absolutely thrilled to receive the Alan Sisley Memorial Fellowship from RPG NSW! It will assist me to conduct an industry wide survey to evaluate current practice, challenges, and aspirations to champion environmental action within the regional and wider NSW arts & cultural sector.
I believe that this survey and broader research into eco-sustainability in the arts is timely and highly relevant and will provide a meaningful benefit both for the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, and the NSW public gallery sector more broadly. Particularly for those in regional NSW, who have faced recent extreme weather, drought and fire events and need to adapt to a changing climate.
The arts can play a significant part in rethinking and challenging outdated systems by providing sustainable solutions through creative approaches. The Alan Sisley Memorial Fellowship will enable me to contribute to this highly urgent conversation and I hope that the resulting report and toolkit will enable arts workers and organisations to devise and implement creative strategies to tackle the complex environmental challenges faced by many regional communities today.”
Sabrina Roesner lives and works in the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains and has seen first-hand the impacts of climate change. As Artistic Program Lead, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre (BMCC), Roesner has worked with artists, cultural practitioners, and arts organisations on programs that address environmental challenges, and inspire critical debate around more equitable and sustainable practices. BMCC has adopted a strategic approach to embedding sustainability principles across its operations and programs, making environmental objectives one of its key priorities.
The Alan Sisley Memorial Fellowship is awarded biennially, providing an opportunity for a NSW gallery worker to undertake a period of research or study to develop a project or program beneficial to their organisation. The Fellowship is named in honour of Alan Sisley (1952-2014), Director of Orange Regional Gallery from 1991 to 2014. A gifted communicator, he used his role to passionately advocate for the role art can play in peoples’ lives.
