S2:E4 Knocking on doors – Lisa Havilah in conversation with Criena Gehrke
Guest
Lisa Havilah
In conversation with
Criena Gehrke
Key Takeaways Contributor
Adrian Ellis
In this episode, our host Criena Gehrke speaks with Lisa Havilah, Chief Executive of the Powerhouse Museum in Australia. They unpack the visionary approach she has crafted over her career of shaping cultural institutions and precincts into culturally and commercially vibrant hubs. They discuss the imperative need to maintain your community engaged, to operate and program inclusively, as well as the significance of keeping an open-door policy, particularly towards emerging artists and cultural leaders.
After, Criena is joined by fellow host Adrian Ellis to discuss key takeaways. They reflect on the importance of bold but honest cultural leadership, alongside the need for cultural institutions to align practice with ethos for a coherent brand identity.
Date of Recording
1 March 2022
Date of Publication
7 April 2022
[00:00:00]
[THEME MUSIC]
[00:00:05]
Criena Gehrke: Hello, and welcome to The Three Bells. This podcast is one of a series brought to you by AEA Consulting and The Binnacle Foundation for the Global Cultural Districts Network, in which we explore what's happening around the world on those busy and sometimes congested intersections of cultural and urban life. The series and supporting materials can be found at www.thethreebells.net. And if you like our content, please, tell your friends, subscribe and give us a positive review on your podcast listening platform of choice.
Today, I'm speaking to you from the land of the Kombumerri people of the Yugambeh language region. And I pay my respects to the elders past, present and emerging, and to all first nations people of the many lands on which we are listening from today.
I'm Criena Gehrke, and for those who regularly listen to The Three Bells, you know that my day job is CEO of HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast in Australia. You'll also know that I have a growing reputation amongst my Three Bells colleagues for my unapologetic and frankly, brazen use of this platform to promote Gold Coast tourism and unapologetically brag about our 300 days of sunshine each year.
However, as I speak, here in south east Queensland, we have experienced some of the worst weather events and floods in our history. Lives have been lost, houses and businesses gone. Many of my colleagues in the arts have experienced flooded venues, gallery collections have been washed away, shows cancelled. This, on top of COVID is heart breaking. And I just wanted to acknowledge the resilience and fierce optimism of my community against all odds. And in fact, artists and cultural workers everywhere in this crazy world we're living in, may there be sunnier days ahead.
Now on a brighter note and speaking of resilience and fierce optimism, today, I am joined by Lisa Havilah, the CEO of the Powerhouse in Sydney. In this role, Lisa has taken on the challenge and ambition of not one, but two significant capital projects and trust me, I know a capital project and she is a brave woman. She's overseeing the refurbishment of the Powerhouse Ultimo and development of Powerhouse Parramatta, which is the largest investment in cultural infrastructure since the Sydney Opera House and the first major New South Wales cultural institution to be established in Western Sydney.
[00:02:38]
Criena Gehrke: Before moving to Powerhouse, Lisa was the CEO of Carriageworks, an old railway yard in Sydney’s inner suburbs, which under her leadership became one of Australia's most celebrated contemporary precincts, growing visitation from 110,000 in 2012 to a whopping 1.3 million in 2017. Her innovative programming and talent for developing commercial models that are integrated into an artistic vision is something that I personally admire.
And I am not going to lie, at times I have blatantly emulated. After my conversation with Lisa, I'll be joined by the erudite, Adrian Ellis, for our usual key takeaway segment. So stay tuned. But for now, after that very long introduction, welcome Lisa!
[00:03:28]
Lisa Havilah: Oh, Criena. Thank you for that very kind introduction. So pleased to be talking to you today and I'm very lucky to be on the land of the Gadigal people in Sydney. And I just really support your comments about how resilient our community is, and we're all thinking of all of you up there. Very sad to hear what's happening.
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External Links
Powerhouse Museum is one of Australia's oldest and most important cultural institutions.
Project Contemporary Artspace in Wollongong was founded by Lisa Havilah, Glen Barkley and Nathan Clarke.
Casula Powerhouse Art Center, a multi-disciplinary arts centre in Western Sydney
Campbelltown Arts Centre, an arts centre also based in Western Sydney
Carriageworks, the largest multi-arts centre in Australia
Afterpay Australian Fashion Week, Australia’s only international fashion event that takes place throughout the Carriageworks precinct
Sydney Contemporary, visual art fair presented by and staged at Carriageworks
Powerhouse Parramatta is the largest investment in cultural infrastructure since the Sydney Opera House, and the first major cultural institution to be established in Western Sydney.
Renewal of Powerhouse Ultimo, where it will be embedded into a new creative industries precinct
Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari
About Our Speakers
Lisa Havilah is the Chief Executive of the Powerhouse Museum. Through her visionary leadership, she is establishing a new museum paradigm for one of Australia’s oldest and most important cultural institutions. From 2012 to 2019, Lisa was the Director of Carriageworks. Under her leadership, Carriageworks experienced extraordinary audience, artistic and commercial growth, becoming the fastest growing cultural precinct in Australia. +
Criena Gehrke is Chief Executive Officer of HOTA, Home of the Arts. She has a diverse and eclectic background in arts management and a particular passion for the role of arts and culture in building strong and connected communities. She has worked with all tiers of government on the development and implementation of cultural policy. +
Adrian Ellis is the founder of AEA Consulting (1990) and the Global Cultural Districts Network (2013). He has worked in senior management and as a board member in both museums and the performing arts and as a strategy consultant to leading clients in the cultural, public, and business sectors around the world. +
