OUR BOARD
KANESAN NATHAN (he/him)
Chair
Kanesan Nathan is an Eelam Tamil settler and arts worker currently living on the unceded lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples. Over the last 20 years, he has worked in marketing, membership and communications across the performing arts and visual arts, most recently as the Head of Marketing for the National Gallery of Australia in Kamberri/Canberra. Prior to the Gallery, he has worked in arts marketing for Victorian Opera, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra. He is currently on an arts marketing hiatus, to pursue a series of creative and research projects, and support the sector through his role as Chair for Canberra Contemporary.
COLLEEN KELLY (she/her)
Treasurer
Colleen Kelly is a Certified Practising Accountant with over 25-years’ experience working in public practice accounting firms providing taxation and business advice to clients in a range of sectors. As a Senior Manager at MGI Joyce Dickson, Colleen assists small to medium businesses to achieve their business and financial objectives. Colleen joined the Board in 2023, and brings to the Treasurer role considerable financial expertise as well as not-for-profit governance and committee experience.
MEAGAN JONES (she/her)
Secretary
Meagan Jones is a dedicated arts and cultural professional with a background in program and project management. Passionate about supporting artists and designers, she brings experience across not-for-profit and government cultural organisations, as well as major arts festivals. Her expertise spans event delivery, programming, marketing, sponsorship, and audience engagement. In Canberra, she has worked with institutions such as Canberra Glassworks, Craft ACT, and Australian Parliament House. Meagan holds a Master of Arts and Cultural Management (2016) and a Bachelor of Design (2013) from the University of South Australia. She is currently a Project Manager at the National Gallery of Australia, working on the National Sculpture Garden revitalisation project.
ADAM FORD (he/him)
Adam Ford is a Nyoongar curator, writer, and researcher whose Menang/Goreng lineage is drawn through the Keen(/Knapp) and Farmer(/Coyne) families. Though connected to the Great Southern region of Western Australia, Adam was born and raised in Magandjin/Brisbane. He is currently Associate Curator, First Nations Art and the National Gallery of Australia. Adam has held professional positions across state, university, independent, and commercial institutions and regularly contributes to Australian arts publications. He has worked previously as Assistant Curator, Indigenous Australian Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art; Curatorial Research Assistant, Blaklash; Public Programs Assistant, Institute of Modern Art; and was a 2021 Kinnane Endowment Fund Intern (Curation/Registration/Engagement) at the University of Queensland Art Museum.
DAN TOUA (she/her)
Dan Toua is an arts worker and independent curator living and working on unceded Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country. She is currently working at the ANU School of Art & Design Gallery, having previously been a Curator of Pacific Art at the National Gallery of Australia and Associate Curator and Gallery Manager for Canberra Contemporary. She is a sessional lecturer in Art History and Curatorial Studies and a PhD candidate at the Humanities Research Centre (both at the Australian National University).
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 she strives to be an effective part of the global push for the re-imagination of cultural collections, exhibition development and curatorial methodologies that focus on anti-colonial and (re)indigenised practices.
ESTHER KWON (she/her)
Esther Kwon is a solicitor with legal and arts experience. As a solicitor, she works on a range of litigation and dispute resolution matters. As an arts professional, she has held positions across commercial and government arts institutions. Esther has also practiced as a painter and exhibited paintings that explore themes of identity and culture.
KIRI MORCOMBE (she/her)
Kiri Morcombe is an independent Creative Producer working on Ngunnawal, Ngarigo and Ngambri Country, between the Southern Tablelands NSW and Canberra ACT. She is dedicated to live performance, community engagement and strategic cultural development, and currently contributes to Canberra Theatre Centre’s Lyric Theatre project, focusing on operations, engagement, and capacity building.
Her practice spans producing, programming, curation and project management, with strengths in strategic planning, audience development and fundraising. She has held key roles with Australian Dance Party, Southern Tablelands Arts, University of Canberra’s Creative Resilience and Recovery Program, Manager for Ausdance NSW, Producer for Contemporary Dance (C-A-C NSW), and Creative Australia.
MELISSA HOWE (she/her)
Melissa Howe is a photographic artist, researcher and educator who creates still and moving image work investigating the everyday, memory, place and time. Her work has been exhibited in galleries across Australia and has been featured in local and international print publications. She has taught photography courses at various institutions in Sydney and Canberra for the past 15 years and is a Program Manager at the National Library of Australia working on commissioned photography and oral history projects. In 2026 she co-founded fold projects, an artist run studio and exhibition space in Fyshwick, Canberra on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country.