Amber Cronin: Future Leaders Program

Amber Cronin is the founder and former co-director of The Mill, a South Australian arts organisation which provides arts programming adjacent to a community of studios and rehearsal space. 

Q&A

What attracted you to the Leadership Program?

After being a part of Australia Council’s JUMP program I saw Future Leaders as a continuation of a program which was foundational in my development. I saw it as a chance to develop new networks and meet like minded people following parallel trajectories to me, nationally. I was drawn to Future Leaders because I saw a program designed to foster these relationships and set up a platform for us to think about a way that we can shape the future of an Australian arts ecology.

What does leadership in the arts mean to you?

Arts leadership to me means relationships, it is to have an ‘Artists First’ mentality. To me, leaders are hands on and engaged at a grass roots level. Arts leaders are connected with makers through their artist networks. Leaders in the arts are turning what they know to be true into reality and taking artists with them.

Why do you think it is important to develop Arts Leaders?

Within most industries there is a structure which supports the development of leadership that is industry specific. This program can be one such structure for the arts. This is a wonderful way to support industry leaders from their beginnings. It is crucial for the arts to foster a new generation of forward thinkings and provide a platform for national networking. I am sure for many of my peers, this will be a next step in a pathway to roles which we have not imagined yet. It’s important to foster new leaders because they are the ones who will lead the arts into the future, and they need programs like this to be prepared to respond to the changes within the industry.

Biography

Amber Cronin is an Australian cross-disciplinary artist whose work spans sculpture, drawing, installation, performance and social interventions. Cronin’s visual arts research is rooted in performative and sculptural gestures that engage the audience through the connection of memory, time and space. Everyday actions such as weaving, sewing or sleeping are transformed into meditative sites of ritual activity.

Amber has been focused on creating a space for dialogue between visual arts and performance/dance. Her involvement with The Mill exemplifies her interest in audience driven works and she approaches making as an independent artist through the structure of contemporary performance production.

See more of Amber’s work

Learn more about the Future Leaders Program.