Matilda Awards Welcomes Members
The Matilda Awards Chair, Jan Irvine is delighted to announce three new members to the Matilda team – Ruth Atkinson, Alexandra Ellen and TheaRaveneau.
Joining the Executive Committee is Ruth Atkinson.
Ruth is an independent Creative Producer based in Toowoomba working with RAVA Productions and the Curious Arts Festival. She is CEO/Owner of Visual Focus, an audio-visual integration and events company based in Toowoomba.
Ruth was previously appointed to the Creative Business Champions (2021/22), a program to mentor creatives in the business of the Arts, through the Regional Arts Services Network (RASN), and provides mentorship in strategic direction and projects planning for Queensland artists and their communities.
Formerly Director at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts (2008-2016), Ruth founded the Fresh Ground artist-in-residence program supporting the development of over 90 Queensland performing arts productions.
Ruth holds an M.B.A. and Post Graduate qualifications in Arts and Cultural Management and a Bachelor of Business (Marketing).
The Judging Panel welcomes Alexandra Ellen and Thea Raveneau.
Alexandra Ellen is a Brisbane/Meanjin based theatre maker and visual artist. She takes a multidisciplinary approach to her artistic practice which crosses form.
Alex believes that as artists we are story tellers and is very passionate about disabled stories being told by authentic voices. This underpins all her art and advocacy work. Alexandra Ellen is the Artistic Associate at indelabilityarts and has been a member of the professional ensemble since 2017. She has been involved in Love Me; and performs in the award-winning show, Wilbur the Optical Whale.
In September 2023 her disability-led show, Betsy and I premiered at Undercover Artist Festival to a sold out audience. Alexandra was also part of La Boite’s 2020 ASSEMBLY cohort and was the 2020 Access Arts Achievement Award recipient.
Thea Raveneau is a proud Gunggari, Lardil, and Kullilli woman from Gaibal Country in Toowoomba, currently living, working, and storytelling on Jagera and Turrbal Country in Magan-djin/Brisbane.
Thea completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) at Queensland University of Technology in 2023, and made her film debut starring in A Savage Christmas (2023) and her theatre debut understudying for Rosie in Darlinghurst Theatre’s production of Overflow (2024), written by Travis Alabanza and Directed by Dino Dimitriadis.
Thea was elected to join the Queensland Performer’s Committee with the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) in 2024, joined the MELT Open Reference Group (MORG) at the Magan-djin/Brisbane Powerhouse in 2023, and recently began volunteering for the 350 Magan-djin branch of the international 350 climate justice organisation.
We welcome and thank Ruth, Alex and Thea for joining us, and for generously giving their time and expertise to support Queensland’s theatre and performing arts industry.
For full details of Matilda Awards team, visit www.matildaawards.com.au