Mind Games: Art Attack: the last arts survivor

Mind Games: Art Attack: the last arts survivor.

Seven areas of the arts, ranging from literature and drama to cinema and visual arts "pitch" for funding to a panel of experts, with the audience "eliminating" them, one by one, until the final art form survives.

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Duration: 1hr 31m

Moderator: "Dr Eugenius" - Eugene Ragghianti, BA (Hons) Flin
Eugene was the original South Australian baby boomer "burlesque artiste" of his generation and has been a not-so-serious actor, an entertainer and stand up comic in cabaret, music hall and nightclubs; a tour guide on buses to Wales, Scotland, Cornwall and the Lake District; the inaugural Drama teacher in Port Adelaide's Le Fevre Boys Technical High School and English teacher to wealthy Arabs in London; a TV star in Italy; an opera director of Scarlatti's opus The Triumph of Honour; a television producer for The Channel Niners and Here's Humphrey; and an arts manager of various organizations in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. He is currently in Alice Springs, being a festival director, having arrived in a covered wagon in mid-2006.

 

Panellists:

Douglas Gautier, BA (Hons) 1975 Flin
Douglas is Chief Executive Officer of the Adelaide Festival Centre, returning to his hometown after four years as Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, where he had both artistic and administrative responsibility, and increased the number and calibre of performances. Before that he was Deputy Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourist Board and played a major role for Hutchison Media in Asia and the Middle East. Douglas is a long term Board member of the South Australian Tourism Commission and willingly contributes his prolific knowledge for the benefit of the State. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006.

Associate Professor Cheryl Stock, BA (Hons)1970 Flin
A 1966 foundation student at Flinders University, graduating with a First Class Honours in French and Spanish and 3 PhD scholarship offers, Cheryl's obsession with dance took her on a 25-year detour enticing her to 28 countries and a career as a dancer, director, choreographer, teacher and advocate. Dubbed "the thinking dancer", Cheryl's compulsion to write with words, as well as her body, brought her full circle back to academe, with her doctoral study on intercultural dance in Vietnam followed by her appointment as Head of Dance and Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology in 2000.

Professor Jeri Kroll
As a native New Yorker, Jeri learned to be a survivor long before reality TV was invented. She worked as a public radio producer and presenter, community arts worker and paralegal in a past life. She reinvented herself as a Children's Literature and Creative Writing scholar. Now she is Program Coordinator of Creative Writing at Flinders, and has published more than 20 books for both adults and young people. In addition to teaching, writing and competing on her horse, she spends a lot of time inventing stories for the Tax Office about how horse riding is a valid research expense.

Posie Graeme-Evans, BA 1973 Flin
Posie was brought up in war zones and this, strangely enough, was the perfect preparation for her recent stint as the Nine Network's Director of Drama. The creator/executive producer of McLeods Daughters and co-creator of Hi-5, Posie is also the author of a trilogy of novels set during the Wars of the Roses. Feuding dynasties, blood, death, sex and ruthless generals all loom large (and page two is quite exciting as well). She received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006.

Julianne Pierce, BA 1986 Flin
Julianne Pierce has experienced many art attacks since she graduated from Flinders in 1986. Firstly, there was the attack of the killer cabaret band, Pluto in Paris. She then went on to sabotage the databanks of Big Daddy Mainframe with the computer artists collective VNS Matrix in the 1990s. Then in 2002, her alter-ego Madame Ivana took on the City of Adelaide and some of its less glorious architectural moments in the hit Fringe sell-out bus tour Your City is Ugly. Currently Julianne is attacking the airwaves on Radio National's with her regular segment "Deep End Download".

John Schumann, BA 1976 Flin
John Schumann is, perhaps, best known for his role in the legendary political folk-rock band, Redgum, for his nasal, whining vocal style and his contemptuous dismissal of the entire music industry. He has recorded nine albums and is the recipient of almost every award the music industry has to offer. He observes that a music industry award and $2.80 will get you a cup of coffee. As well as a pop-star, John has been a teacher, a senior public servant and a political staffer. To the unmitigated horror of Adelaide's aristocracy, in 1998 he almost won the Downer family's seat of Mayo. As a semi-regular contributor to the opinion columns of the Fairfax press, John has succeeded in upsetting almost everyone in any position of importance. He claims not to care.

Alison Wotherspoon
Alison graduated from the University of NSW with a BA Hons and a DIP ED, in drama and film. She began her career in television and film as an Assistant Editor at the BBC in Birmingham UK. On her return to Australia she worked as a Production Manager and Associate Producer at Film Australia, the ABC, and SBS. She has also produced a number of independent films and videos. In 1997, Alison began teaching Screen Production in the Screen Studies Department of Flinders. She is the ASDA (Australian Screen Directors Association) co-ordinator of South Australia and a member of the Professional Development Advisory Committee of the South Australian Film Corporation.

Judges:

Hon Diana Laidlaw AM, BA 1977, DUniv 2003 Flin
Diana was a member of the Parliament of South Australia from 1982 to 2003, and during that time held positions as Minister for Transport, the Arts and Status of Women. Her current appointments include: Board Member, Windmill Performing Arts Company for Children and Families; Member, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, SA Committee; Board Member, South Australian Museum Foundation. Her other job is as the vigneron at Pancake Estate wines.

Greg Mackie OAM, BA 1987 Flin
Greg's career has been punctuated by some amazing opportunities to serve. From one-time 60/40 cabaret band leader to shop-keeper and city councillor, his endeavours have ranged from cultural entrepreneur to Lord Mayoral candidate. He was co-owner of Adelaide's Imprints Booksellers for more than 20 years, served for a decade with Adelaide Writers' Week and is best known for establishing the biennial Adelaide Festival of Ideas, for which he received an Australian Honour in 2002 for services to the arts. As Executive Director of Arts SA since January 2004, Greg is responsible for overseeing the SA Government's policy and many investments in the arts and cultural heritage. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006.

Steve Brown, BA (Hons) 1976, DipEd 1976 Flin
Steve survived an Honours degree in Drama from the Drama Centre at Flinders. In the '80s, after a stint at the Adelaide Festival, he was appointed Director of the Arts Council of the ACT, and oversaw the Day the Arts Died campaign. Returning to Adelaide he continued his career as a judge of things sort of artistic at the RockNRoll Eisteddfod until he removed the event manager and took over the running of the event. Steve has designed and produced several hundred events across Australia and, with a PhD thesis to be submitted next year, he may be Australia's first Event Doctor. Steve currently is Senior Lecturer in the Cultural Tourism Department and Creative Producer for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra's Showcase Series of Concerts in 2007.

"Radio Announcer" & Scriptwriter: Christopher Naylor, BA 1972 Flin
After an all-male secondary education, Christopher felt the need to expand his experiences and boundaries. Following a bunch of loud-mouthed egomaniacs into Drama School at Flinders seemed like a good idea at the time. In order to pay his rent his first student jobs were on the sleazy side of town. While others waited tables and pulled beers, he organised strippers, glamorous transsexuals, burlesque artistes and aging vaudeville stars in a variety of night-clubs and music-halls as a producer, stage manager and technician. His first employer, the late Abe Saffron, gave him glowing references which led to overseas travel and unusual and challenging positions. A decade of moulding young minds led back to his roots in the colour and chaos of the Fringe and then on to the hallowed halls of the Adelaide Festival Centre.

Scriptwriter: Jane Covernton, BA 1972 Flin
After a very short and unmeteoric career as a journalist Jane escaped to London to work in publishing. Since then she has spent far too long publishing children's books (Omnibus and Working Title Press) to be taken seriously. This might explain why she had so much fun working on the scenario for Art Attack and is now planning to follow in the footsteps of her mentor, "Dr Verity Smart", and write a PhD on The Rising Phenomenon of the Elimination Narrative currently entitled Everything is Eliminated. She received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006.

"Dr Verity Smart": Dr Jo Caust, BA 1972 Flin
Jo is an academic, but hopefully, there the similarity with "Dr Verity Smart" ends. She is deeply skeptical of cultural theories and has no solution for anything! Her Flinders experience provided some training in drama, which she continues to employ, if the occasion requires.

Pianist: Sandi McMenamin
Sandi wrote songs about Adelaide and South Australia to spread the wonders of our unique city to the world. During the 1980's she worked in 10 countries. In between entertaining the public and teaching potential entertainers how to sing, play and live on an artiste's income she writes songs about the Leafy Sea Dragon.