News and Media

Artbank Melbourne, Australia: Artbank presents and also, a dynamic investigation of performance based, time-based media from the Artbank Collection. The exhibition is an outcome of Artbank celebrating 45 years and looking back at key moments and projects from our collective history. In 2013-14 then Senior Curator Daniel Mudie Cunningham commissioned a series of time-based works when Artbank was moving from Rosebery to Waterloo in Sydney. The series was titled Performutations - the name reflecting on the period of change and flux, or ‘mutation’, and the intention was to find ways of connecting with artists despite the lack of a physical space. The focus was also a critical engagement with performance-based work. Twelve years on – and also, takes Laresa Kosloff’s Kinetic Connect, from the Performutations series, as a starting point to once again explore performance-based arts practice in 2025. 

The phrase ‘and also’ suggests addition, layering, and connection. While each work in the exhibition stands alone, they also speak to each other — bodies in spaces, gestures echoing past and present, movements unfolding across time. Featuring video work by artist collective Barbara Cleveland, artists Amrita Hepi, Laresa Kosloff and Simone Slee alongside an installation by Liv Moriarty and also is a playful presentation, inviting viewers to respond to the many different modes of performance-based art practice – still and moving, playful and strong, past and present – always and also.

Barbara Cleveland (Diana Baker Smith, Frances Barrett, Kate Blackmore and Kelly Doley, performed by Angela Goh), Amrita Hepi, Laresa Kosloff, Liv Moriarty, Simone Slee

Image: Installation view and also, Artbank Melbourne 2025. Photo by Christian Capurro. 

Join the Artbank Sydney team

Artbank Office & Facilities Coordinator

The opportunity we have available

The position of Artbank Office & Facilities Coordinator is responsible for a variety of day-to-day office management, coordination and general administration tasks. You will be an integral part of the team by ensuring that our office operations run smoothly and are successful in supporting other business activities and organisational reporting requirements. The successful candidate for this role will, above all, be an organised and competent professional with phenomenal communication skills. You will be comfortable dealing with people and be able to carry out your range of duties with accuracy and speed.

This role works across facilities and property, accounts and administration and social media teams to ensure a high standard of consistent and engaged service for Artbank’s clients, staff, contractors, visitors and stakeholders. As with all positions at Artbank, the successful candidate will make an important contribution towards meeting our program objectives and in doing so, provide essential support to the visual art sector in Australia.

This is a full-time position for someone who has a high attention to detail, is an open and engaging communicator and who values quality customer service - ideally with experience in administration, events management, coordinating facilities and an interest in social media/marketing. The role requires the successful candidate to work out of the Sydney Artbank office in Waterloo, NSW.

How to apply

Applications for this opportunity close at 11.59pm AEDT, Wednesday 5 November 2025.

To apply follow the link below -

Career Opportunities: APS3 - Artbank Office & Facilities Coordinator, Creative Industries (47250)

In applying for this position, you are not required to address individual selection criteria. Rather, you should provide in a PDF document a statement of no more than 2 pages outlining your background, capabilities and experiences, and how these align with the advertised role.

You should also provide a tailored CV in PDF, no more than 2 pages. The capabilities and behaviours required to be successful for this role are identified in the ‘Who are we looking for’ section.

Your application should be received through the department’s online recruitment system.  Applications via Indeed will not be accepted.

If you experience any issues with the system please contact the recruitment team on 02 6136 8989 or via email at recruitment@infrastructure.gov.au to discuss an alternative way to submit your application.

Please advise the contact officer if you require reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. The department is committed to the accessibility of our systems. If you identify as someone with disability and you require accessibility assistance or more information, please email DiversityandInclusion@infrastructure.gov.au 

ABC Radio National

Program: The Art Show, October 22, 2025. 

Artbank has released a major limited edition publication On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection. 

This significant publication delves into the history of the dynamic program, its impact on the contemporary art landscape in Australia over 45 years, and the incredible artworks within the collection. 

For a copy of the book please contact enquiries@artbank.gov.au 

Artbank is pleased to present our Year in Review 2024-25.

Highlighting some of our key achievements and showcasing the artworks we have acquired by the best Australian contemporary artists from across the nation in the 2024-25 financial year, we hope you enjoy reading our Year in Review report. 

ARTBANK CELEBRATES 45TH ANNIVERSARY AND ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL PRIZE 

As part of the 45th anniversary celebrations, Artbank has announced the establishment of the first Artbank Prize. All living artists — emerging or established, represented or independent — working in any medium collected by Artbank and suitable for public leasing are eligible to apply. One finalist will be selected from each state and territory, with the winning work to be acquired for a maximum purchase price of $20,000. An exhibition featuring the eight finalists will be held at Artbank’s premises alongside a public program that celebrates the artists and their works. The submission dates for the Artbank Prize will be announced soon.

• August 7 2025; Announcement.
• January 2026; Open Submission Process, Guidelines published.
• April 30 2026; Close Submission Process.
• June 2026; Finalists announced.
• August 2026: Awards event at Artbank. Announcement of Winner.

For more information please contact Artbank enquiries@artbank.gov.au

By Lara Chapman for the Guardian

Wed 30 Jul 2025 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/jul/30/a-sidney-nolan-above-the-sofa-inside-artbank-the-collection-that-lets-you-rent-a-masterpiece

A major limited edition publication and two new exhibitions will be unveiled this August, celebrating 45 years of Artbank, Australia’s national art collection and leasing program. Launching on 8 August, On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection, is a significant publication that delves into the history of the dynamic program, its impact on the contemporary art landscape in Australia over 45 years, and the incredible artworks within the collection. 

MEDIA RELEASE: June 2025

ARTBANK CELEBRATES 45 YEARS WITH LANDMARK PUBLICATION 

AND EXHIBITION - ON DISPLAY: THE STORY OF ARTBANK

Melbourne, Australia: A major limited edition publication and two new exhibitions will be unveiled this August, celebrating 45 years of Artbank, Australia’s national art collection and leasing program. Launching on 8 August, On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection, is a significant publication that delves into the history of the dynamic program, its impact on the contemporary art landscape in Australia over 45 years, and the incredible artworks within the collection. 

Established in 1980 as a federal artist support program, Artbank is a unique public art collection and leasing program that operates under the philosophy that art is for everyone. Conceived with the bold vision to nurture Australian creativity by acquiring works by living Australian artists while simultaneously bringing art into the public domain, the Artbank collection is a significant national asset, including over 11,000 works by more than 3,500 artists from across Australia, celebrating the diversity of creative expression across the country. With over half the collection on lease at any time, Artbank places contemporary Australian art in homes, workplaces and public institutions in an affordable and accessible way, promoting the value of Australian contemporary art to the broader public. 

Zoë Rodriguez, Artbank Director, said: “On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection tells Artbank’s story from its origins through to today, highlighting its enduring cultural impact and role in embedding art into everyday Australian life. It reinforces the impact that Artbank has had on the Australian arts sector over the past 45 years and its enduring and far-reaching legacy.”

The publication features a rich compilation of artwork images, client displays, archival material, and personal reflections from artists, gallerists, and clients, alongside a detailed text tracing the Artbank story.  This includes quotes from artists about their experience of being collected by Artbank, with artist Tony Albert noting: “My work was purchased for the Artbank collection while I was an emerging artist, which was a really wonderful opportunity for me at that time. For any artist, being part of a national collection gives immense validation. It is like the pinnacle of what you’re looking for.”

Inaugural Artbank Director Graeme Sturgeon who led Artbank from 1980 until 1990, is quoted in the book speaking to the importance of the organisation for the country: “It’s probably more accurate to describe Artbank as a library of art, rather than a bank. We don’t take the work and keep it hidden away.” 

Respected Gallerist Roslyn Oxley, Director, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery also speaks to Artbank’s imprint on the sector in relation to female artists: “Championing living women artists is something that has always been important to us, and to have Artbank’s support throughout the years has been so important to those artists and the gallery. Artbank has most definitely been at the forefront of supporting living women artists.”

On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection

Available free at Artbank from 8 August 2025

On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection will be available from Artbank from 8 August 2025. Please contact Artbank for more information.

Name: Susie Cornish

Job Title: Art Consultant

What year did you join the Artbank team: 2004(-2007) and 2022

Describe your role and what you enjoy about working for Artbank:
I started at Artbank when the first Melbourne Showroom was established in leafy suburban High Street Armadale in 2004. Several interstate moves, employment in other areas of the art world and many years later, I am delighted to be back. Now situated in the edgy inner-city suburb of Collingwood, I work within a small Client Services team focused on leasing works from the Artbank collection.

What makes Artbank so unique and why I chose to return to the role is the vibrancy within the team, working together to support and promote Australian art through the leasing program which in turn funds the acquisition of new works from Australian artists.

The highlight of my job is meeting people who later become Artbank clients, matching personalities and spaces with works from the collection. On any given day I could be discussing art placement in share homes, private estates, small and big business, corporate and government departments; as well as working with architects, designers, stylists - the variety of people I meet is endless. Being one of the public faces of such a diverse collection of Australian contemporary art and sharing a workspace with so many artworks is a privilege, and it is rewarding connecting people with art they might never have otherwise encountered or considered.

Select an Artwork to represent you: Cybele Cox, White Shepherd, 2022, speckled stoneware, underglaze, glaze.

Short explanation of your artwork selection:
Cybele Cox is a multidisciplinary artist who explores representations of women, working primarily with hand built ceramic figures. This work is one of a series in the Artbank collection and is a play on the traditional masculine form of a toby jug.

I find it hard to walk past White Shepherd without stopping to admire her captivating attitude, demanding attention in spite of the small scale, and the pastel iridescent glaze that Cybele Cox has so expertly applied. Her slender arms on ballooning hips, she knows who she is as she jauntily reveals herself to you with confidence, as if provocatively asking her viewer - I know who I am, do you know who you are? White Shepherd makes herself too irresistible to ignore.