The Team
Neil Hobbs
Neil is a landscape architect and director of Harris Hobbs Landscapes, a Canberra based landscape architectural firm that has operated for over 30 years. In his practice he integrates art into the public realm, through memorial design, commissioned works, artwork installation, and collaborating with temporary events in the art and design field.
Neil was the curator of Sculpture in the garden, at Lambrigg, in 2013, and was the curator of contour 556 2016 and 2018, which began as part of his PhD research that focused on the transformation of space into place, through temporary art interventions.
He has strong community and design involvement as a board member variously of: The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (2004-2013), president (2007-2009 and 2013); Open Gardens Australia Southern NSW/ACT Region (2003-2013) and Chair (2008–2011); The Gallery of Australian Design (Now the Alastair Swayn Foundation), since 2008; Capital Arts Patrons Organisation, 2012 – 2020; and Australian National Capital Artists Inc, (2014 2019).
He is committed to the development of the ACT and regions Visual Arts sector through philanthropic activities such as the 2014 and 2017 Canberra Grammar School Small Sculpture Prize, and the ANU School of Arts and Design Harris Hobbs materials award to a post graduate student (awarded each year since 2007).
Tegan Garnett
Tegan is an arts administrator and early career curator based in Kamberri/Canberra. The basis for Tegan’s work is derived from values of community, resisting normative discourses, and queering processes and systems to inform how she creates. Fundamentally Tegan seeks to connect ideas and initiate physical connections. With a history working in arts institutions and community grassroots organisations, Tegan is currently the inaugural Creative Producer for the Canberra Art Biennial.
Dan Toua
Dan is an arts worker and curator living and working on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country (Kamberri/Canberra, Australia). Dan holds a Bachelor in International Relations (2009) from the Australian National University, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Art History (2015) and a Master of Art Curatorship (2016) from the University of Melbourne. Dan is currently undertaking her PhD at the Australian National University, with the goal of developing a Curatorial Handbook that will aid in researching, documenting and implementing sustainable, relevant and culturally sensitive curatorial practices in relation to Pacific cultural materials in Australian national institutions.
Dan is a first-generation Australian with Indian, Papua New Guinean, and Fijian heritage, and bases her curatorial practice on cultural autonomy, two-way relationships and knowledge sharing. In her work Dan strives to be an effective part of the global push for the reimagination of cultural collections, exhibition development and curatorial methodologies that focus on anti-colonial and decolonised practices.
George Katheklakis
George is the Managing Director of KDN Group, a local Canberra based business that specialises in Property Development, Management and Investment. With experience in the Australian property and design sector that spans over 25 years, George remains driven in the delivery of excellent design and urban environments that support and promote sustainable and integrated communities at all levels.
Recent award winning developments George has directed include Linq Apartments in Belconnen, a 248 unit apartment development promoting high quality design and energy efficient apartments surrounding an internal deep root garden courtyard, and Winyu House in Gungahlin Town Centre, housing the ACT Government in an atrium centred office environment that promotes abundant daylighting of the workplace and the transparent visual and physical connectedness between Government administration and community.
George’s substantial contributions to the property sector both locally and at the National level have been acknowledged with the award of Honorary Life Membership to the Property Council of Australia. He actively promotes the incorporation of locally based art installations into the built environment and is a staunch supporter of Canberra as the Nation’s symbolic, political and cultural heart.
Jordan Evans-Tse
Jordan Evans-Tse is a multidisciplinary designer at Place Logic, a local urban design and landscape architecture firm. Born and raised in Canberra, Jordan has always felt a deep connection to this city, its rolling hills, and public open spaces and to the cultural institutions that also call Canberra home. Human-centred and sustainable design principles are key to her design practice and she is a proponent of projects that celebrate the unique characteristics of our Nation’s Capital. Since graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, Jordan has applied her transferable and diverse skill set to landscape architecture, interior architecture, exhibition, and graphic design projects both locally and internationally.
Through her work as a freelance exhibition designer, Jordan has designed exhibitions for multiple galleries and museums across Australia and internationally. Recent exhibitions include Terminus by Jess Johnson and Simon Ward at the National Gallery of Australia, Heide MOMA (Vic), Tauranga Art Gallery (NZ) and The Dowse Art Museum, (NZ), Neon Meat Dream at Nanzuka Underground (Japan) and Don’t Stop Now: Fashion Photography Next at Fotografiemuseum (the Netherlands).
Jordan is well connected to Canberra’s arts community having worked at several of Canberra’s design, arts and cultural institutions including the Gallery of Australian Design, the Canberra Glassworks, and the National Gallery of Australia. Whilst working for Neil Hobbs and Karina Harris at Harris Hobbs Landscapes, Jordan became involved in the inaugural 2016 contour 556 festival and in 2018 she was involved in the design and production of the festival’s graphic, exhibition, and promotional material. Jordan is now involved in the festival in a new capacity as a member of the contour 556 board.
Karla Dickens
Karla Dickens is a multidisciplinary artist of Wiradjuri, Irish and German descent. Since graduating from the National Art School (Sydney) in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts – and having since made Bundjalung country in Northern New South Wales her home – Dickens has dedicated herself to her art. Her artwork unfurls the cross-cultural experiences which have shaped her identity.
Although she started out as a painter, an interest in combining secondhand and found materials such as fabrics, rusted hardware, beads and hair is a common thread in her work, along with poetry.
Kevin Miller
Kevin Miller is a director of CCJ Architects which is an evolution of Collard Clarke Jackson, an architectural practice established in Canberra in the 1960s. CCJ has completed a number of public, community and arts related projects in Canberra and the surrounding region including (recently) the Link at Strathnairn Arts, GAD at Commonwealth Place, refurbishment of Goulburn Regional Gallery and the refurbishment of the Tuggeranong Arts Centre. The practice actively pursues environmental best practice and the incorporation of artworks within its large range of project types.
Kevin is also a practicing photographic artist and recently completed a PHD in visual arts at the School of Art and Design at the ANU, a research project that incorporates examples of unique site specific artworks from Japan. He has been a finalist in the National Photographic Portrait Prize and the Olive Cotton award, and has been a regular exhibitor at ArtNotApart. He has also participated in a number of community and environmental arts projects such as Engaging Visions and the centenary of Canberra project, Unmade Edges – Distinctive places.
Melissa Evans
Melissa brings over 20 years of experience in Graphic Design, Marketing, and Communications. As a proud 4th generation Canberran, Melissa has deep-rooted connections to the Canberra Region and its community.
Melissa holds extensive qualifications, including an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design and a Diploma in Digital Marketing from the prestigious Chartered Institute of Marketing. She is also recognized as a Fellow Certified Practicing Marketer by the Australian Marketing Institute.
Currently, Melissa serves as the Head of Marketing & Communication for Capital Airport Group, overseeing a diverse portfolio of brands, including Canberra Airport, Airport Business Parks, Majura Park Shopping Centre, Constitution Place, Denman Prospect, The Snow Foundation, and Snow Medical. Her experience spans across various industries, including sport, aviation, commercial property, retail, land development, and philanthropy.
Capital Airport Group has sponsored Contour 556 since 2016, showcasing Melissa’s commitment to supporting the Canberra sculpture event through her professional role.
Owen Craven
Owen Craven is a seasoned curator who brings over 15 years of experience in the visual arts sector to the Canberra Biennale board. He currently serves as the Managing Director of Ames Yavuz Australia, a commercial art gallery representing artists in Australia and internationally. Prior to joining Ames Yavuz, Owen was the Managing Principal and Senior Curator at Urban Art Projects (UAP), where he led the Curatorial, Design, and Business Development teams across Australia and the Middle East.
Owen has played a pivotal role in delivering major public artworks both domestically and internationally. His collaborations have included working closely with renowned artists such as Abdul Abdullah, Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, and Caroline Rothwell to bring their ideas to life in large-scale public art projects.
Vanessa Gstrein
Dr Vanessa Gstrein is a social scientist who has worked in the public, not-for-profit, and higher education sectors. She has experience, nationally and internationally, in the fields of social policy and public health with a focus on HIV and injecting drug use, gambling harm, and sexual health. This includes roles with the Australian Government (AusAID), the ACT Government and the not-for-profit sector. Vanessa has also worked in both an academic and professional capacity in a number of universities, including as a Senior Advisor, Strategy and Planning at the University of Tasmania, and more recently as Senior Research Fellow at the University of Canberra.
Vanessa was awarded her PhD from Ulster University in 2019. Her thesis presented her comparative international study of illicit drug policy in Australia and Canada focusing on drug consumption rooms and the barriers to replicating controversial public policy. Vanessa has also co-authored an evaluation of forced labour in the cotton industry in Uzbekistan for the Corruption and Human Rights Initiative and published on drug policy and citizenship education in Northern Ireland.
In recognition of her expertise, Vanessa was appointed as a Director of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT in 2022.
Verity Hawkins
Verity is a senior executive who has led non-profit organisations, social impact programs and led transformational change projects in the for-purpose, corporate responsibility, and financial services sectors. Currently CEO of Cancer Council ACT, Verity has more than 25 years of experience in organisations including Lifeline, YWCA, and HSBC Bank. She began her early career in the art world, working in commercial galleries in Sydney.
Verity served on the board of UN Women Australia for six years, including three as Company Secretary, where her role involved setting the organisation’s strategic purpose in line with UN Women HQ in New York, and monitoring progress towards achieving the strategic direction. Verity represented UN Women Australia at national and international meetings including with the federal government, corporate partners, and other UN Women National Committees globally.
Verity has been involved with contour 556 as a volunteer since the inaugural festival in 2016. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and French literature from the University of Sydney (1994), is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (2015), a Life Member of YWCA Australia, and has been a volunteer at the Canberra Writers Festival since 2017.
