In this bonus episode, you’ll meet one of the key people behind the original idea for the Living Treasures series of exhibitions - Brian Parkes. How did the idea of recognising Australia’s master craftspeople become a reality? Who chooses Living Treasures? How was the first Living Treasures exhibition made on a shoestring budget, maybe some shopping at IKEA? How important are exhibitions like these to regional art galleries? How do audiences react? And hear about the two Living Treasures Lisa Cahill didn’t get to interview – the late glass artist Klaus Moje and South Australian glass artist Nick Mount. Brian is the CEO and Artistic Director of https://www.jamfactory.com.au/ (JamFactory), Adelaide’s leading craft and design centre, where he's been for over a decade. Before that, he was Associate Director of the Australian Design Centre 2000 - 2010 (when the Centre was called Object. Now you know where the podcast name came from!). Brian Parkes lives and works on Kaurna Country in Adelaide. Guests Steve Pozel was the former CEO and Artistic Director of the Australian Design Centre who developed and championed the idea for the Living Treasures series during his 16 year tenure with the organisation. He’s now an https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevepozel/ (Innovation Strategist and Facilitator in mindful leadership). Bridget Guthrie is the director of https://tamworthregionalgallery.com.au/ (Tamworth Regional Gallery) in NSW. Show highlights and takeaways Inspiration from National Gallery of Australia Susan Cohn exhibition [1:47] In 2000, the https://nga.gov.au/ (National Gallery of Australia) made a national touring exhibition of the work of Australian jeweller Susan Cohn, https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/techno-craft/ (Techno Craft: The work of Susan Cohn 1980 – 2000). It toured to Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, Perth and Melbourne into 2001. Brian Parkes says it was the first time that a major institution had done a big touring exhibition of someone who came out of the crafts sector. The https://www.australiana.org.au/resources/magazine_issues/79_August_1998_Vol_20_No_3.pdf (late Jim Logan), Assistant Curator of Australian Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Australia, curated the exhibition and Brian Parkes worked with him during this time. "All the hallmarks of the Living Treasure series were borrowed from that exhibition, which Jim had always intended as an ongoing series of shows, celebrating the extraordinary wealth of talent in the kind of decorative arts scene in Australia, " Brian says. Who nominates and selects craftspeople to be Living Treasures? [5:30] First, a jury was appointed by the "key figures - curatorially, academically, theoretically", Brian say. Then, the nominations process lets Australian craft sector organisations, as well as individual practitioners, to nominate Australian artists to be a Living Treasure. The criteria to be nominated as a Living Treasure [6:12] There are some specific requirements to be nominated as a Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft. These include a thirty year practice requirement and the need for the artist to not have been recognised in a similar way, says Brian. "Perhaps the biggest umbrella criterion was that the person needed to be a leading practitioner in their field, whose influence had been significant." Growing the audience online with video [8:30] Guest Steve Pozel points out that Living Treasures expanded its audience and impact further when "we started doing interviews and videos of the artists". Examples include https://vimeo.com/292236204 (going behind the scenes with Lola Greeno,) through to https://australiandesigncentre.com/past-exhibitions-and-events/prue-venables/book-film-and-audio/ (Prue Venables in her regional Victorian studio), as part of her https://australiandesigncentre.com/past-exhibitions-and-events/prue-venables/ (exhibition curated by Lisa Cahill and currently on tour around Australia). Be