News location:

Canberra Today 20°/24° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Centenary style

WITH the announcement today that Vivien Mitchell will become the new president of the Tuggeranong Community Arts Association the Tuggeranong Arts Centre increasingly resembles an offshoot of the Centenary of Canberra.

Vivien Mitchell
Vivien Mitchell

Ms. Mitchell was senior partnerships manager for the Centenary, where she was, according to the centre’s CEO, Rauny Worm, (also a former employee of the Centenary) “widely respected for her professionalism, excellent communication skills and ability to build strong relationships with a range of stakeholders.”

Ms Worm was appointed last year under contentious circumstances while the former senior program manager at the Centenary, Beverley Growden, was TCA’s board secretary. Ms Growden has since left the board and is now general manager of Canberra Glassworks, but the newly-elected secretary is  Helen Berwick,  the former executive assistant to Robyn Archer at the Centenary.

The Communications Officer at Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Dominic Lavers, left a similar position at the Centenary to join the centre when the Centenary office was shedding staff.

Ms Mitchell replaces Jenny Hargreaves as president, whose husband, politician John Hargreaves, also served on the board as public officer. Their departure seems to break the nexus on the board with the Labor Party, although its new Treasurer, Karl Maftoum, was a protégé of Mr Hargreaves and a candidate for Brindabella in the 2012 ACT elections.

The two elected deputy chairs are Alison Verhoeven, CEO of  Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association and the prominent multicultural community leader, Sam Wong.

“I have visited the centre many times in recent years and have been impressed by its ability to act as a hub of creativity in the south of Canberra,” Ms Mitchell said. “Through high-quality programs, workshops and exhibitions, it plays an important role for aspiring, emerging and established artists as well as art lovers in our community.”

Her enthusiasm for the centre has not been shared by some of the organisation’s members who, in 2013, called an extraordinary general meeting to ask questions about alleged mismanagement and two dismissal cases since Miss Worm’s arrival at the centre. This was followed by legal action to to obtain access to papers not tabled at the general meeting.

The full list of board appointments is as follows:

  • President/Chair: Vivien Mitchell
  • Deputy Chair 1: Alison Verhoeven
  • Deputy Chair 2: Sam Wong
  • Treasurer: Karl Maftoum
  • Secretary: Helen Berwick
  • Committee Members: Chris Melican, Cath Blunt, Wendy Lorenz

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Helen Musa

Helen Musa

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Music

Cunio takes top job at NZ School of Music

Immediate past head of the ANU School of Music, Kim Cunio, is to become head of school at Te Kōki, the NZ School of Music, part of the Victoria University of Wellington, reports HELEN MUSA.

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews