Meet our Board

Region: Goldfields-Esperance

Ken Mills is semi-retired following a 36-year career in the management of regional health services. He has worked across the length and breadth of WA including Albany, Bunbury, Narrogin, Kununurra, Broome, Kalgoorlie and Esperance) and spent 7 years managing health services in NSW. Kenneth is currently the Chairperson of Esperance Community Arts (ECA) and has been since formation of the Board 2 years ago.

He is also a Brass and piano musician and played with the Esperance Brass Band for the past 16 years, and been its President for the past four.

Region: Pilbara

Bobbi Lockyer is a Ngarluma, Karriyarra (from the Pilbara), Yawuru, Nyulnyul (from the Kimberley) woman born and raised in Port Hedland. Bobbi works with a variety of art mediums including traditional painting, digital illustration, graphic design and photography. Bobbi is a mother of four boys and her children are her biggest inspiration and the reason for her strong connection to motherhood. Her strong family connections to land, ocean, people and health are embedded in her work.  

Her connections to culture and family and friends have inspired her to use natural environment to create art in photography and painting.  Her maternal grandmothers personal story of her Stolen Generations experience underlies her love for maternal and country and her great grandfather’s story of social activism and fight for country during WW2 gives her determination and pride. Bobbi is passionate about Birthing on Country and seeks healing of intergenerational trauma as resulted from colonisation. 

Over 13 years of successful business entrepreneurship has seen her photography and art business emerge to become well known, published and reviewed State wide, Nationally and Internationally. Feature articles have described her work as ground breaking, revolutionary and artistic. She draws the natural ability and instincts and strengths from her grassroots Aboriginal community. Bobbi Lockyer is an official creator for Nikon Australia and her work has been published all over the world including in Vogue Magazine and New York Fashion Week.

Region: Perth

Soula has worked across the visual arts and museum areas, managing programs and sites, developing exhibitions, collections and special projects for organisations in Australia and overseas.

She has undertaken leadership roles within the cultural sector, is a former president of Museums & Galleries Australia WA and National Councillor, and currently Director of Programs for the International Arts Space (formerly IASKA).

Her work includes managing artist residencies across WA communities and beyond, site interpretation and activation for the National Trust WA, Historic Heart of Perth and Subiaco East Development, managing the Perth site of the Western Australian Museum, City of Melville Arts and Museums portfolio, Pierre Beres rare books and art and Pulsart Artists Cooperative, amongst others.

Industry activity includes consultative and committee involvement on a number of boards, including Community Arts Board (previously CANWA) and Australian Museums and Galleries Association National Council.

Region: Peel

Oliver is a founder, director, and consultant, with over seven years of experience working across innovation, investment, strategy, and growth. On this journey, he’s worn multiple hats spanning the Non-for-Profit, Government, and Corporate sectors. 

Driven by his passion for the Arts, Oliver has worked had the privilege of learning from and collaborating with hundreds of Creatives from across Regional Australia. Previous projects include creating a Creative Arts Hub in the Peel Region, managing one of Australia’s leading youth arts festivals, and building a program that provided a platform for Regional musicians to perform with a National Music Festival. 

Currently, Oliver connects Founders to their first investment with Perth Angels, guides the next generation of Digital Health companies as a Course Director at Perth Biodesign, supports the growth of the Child and Adolescent Health Service’s innovation function and empowers artists across Western Australia as the Chairperson of Regional Arts WA.

David Wall is a trusted Director and Corporate Advisor with 40 years of experience in the taxation, financial audit, and risk advisory services. He has worked in a number of regional communities in Western Australia as well as across Australia and International settings. He is skilled at formulating and implementing strategic decisions; evaluating corporate performance and improvement; and leading teams to conduct due diligence, quality assurance, risk management and auditing across a diverse range of industries.

As a Partner and Director at RSM Australia, David has successfully contributed to the firm’s strategic planning and implementation across the firm’s Assurance and Advisory Services. In addition, he has led the RSM External Audit Services team to deliver on financial statement audits of large enterprises such as Synergy and Western Power on behalf of the WA Auditor General; worked with the RSM Corporate Finance team in conducting due diligence services that helped Kalium Lakes Limited (ASX: KLL) to raise $61 million in capital; and led the RSM Risk Advisory Services team in providing ATCO Australia with carbon emissions services. As Global Chair of the RSM Transnational Assurance Services Executive Committee, David has also led in the design of policies that enhanced the quality-of-service delivery across the globe.

Region: Kimberley

Having lived in Broome for 22 years, Clancy has deeply engaged with the culture, heritage and communities of the Kimberley.  She has worked with Indigenous media and traditional owner organisations, the ABC, and as a communications and media consultant. The diversity in her career has readied Clancy for her current role as the Executive Officer of the Kimberley Arts Network (KAN).   

After studying fine arts and film at the University of Sydney, Clancy worked in the film industry, and when she arrived in Broome as the television producer with Goolarri Media Enterprises, she adapted to a new cultural environment. She was with Goolarri Media Enterprise for 6 years, nurturing its small production unit and trainee camera crew. 

Then, as the ABC as State Editor Multimedia WA, Clancy managed a regional team of 13 online journalists and Open Producers. Over 7 years, this role broadened her managerial and strategic skills and her understanding of digital communications.  Later, as Communications Officer at Nyamba Buru Yawuru, Clancy re-engaged with her local community and relished the creative projects there. All of these roles combined prepared Clancy for work in arts project management and community engagement; consulting for the Shire of Broome, Derby District High School and driving projects such as the Broome Fringe Festival for KAN.  

KAN is small but mighty young multi-arts organisation drawing together the threads of their creative communities to build a vibrant network which supports people to be more creative, and arts practitioners to raise their profile and increase their professional capacity.        

Region: Kimberley

Jacky Cheng was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and received her Bachelor of Architecture (Honours 1) from University of New South Wales, Sydney. She has since pursued her love for creating and making in smaller scales and working in the education sector.

Jacky’s work is fundamentally about identity and awareness through cultural activities and memories of home; country and relationships. Her significant concern and deep interest are about correlating and weaving narratives from her native experiences whilst mapping the esoteric and social relationships of her origins and her new found home, environment, and social surroundings. Her awareness towards her Chinese heritage continues to question her notion of ‘home’ and ‘belonging’ – ‘here and there’ and the ‘in between’. The desire is to explore ideas and methodology of two extremities of the same continuum and simplicity in complexity that exist in her medium of choice. 

Jacky is an award-winning artist that exhibits regularly nationally and internationally and attended residencies in Finland, Spain, Japan and Australia. She has also collaborated with various grass-roots organisations to champion the health, wealth, and importance of the creative industries in regional areas.

Today, Jacky is an art lecturer at North Regional TAFE based in Broome. Her award-winning teaching accolades was also recognised at the state and national Vocational Education Training (VET) sector bestowed by the Australia Training Awards as well as for the Curtin University Teaching Excellence Award by Awards Australia.

Photo by Brett Canet-Gibson.

Region: Mid West

Grace Crogan is a young creative and arts worker from Kalbarri, WA.

Grace is part of the Arts & Culture team at element, an urban consulting and project management agency. The team focus on public art projects, cultural consulting and strategy. Grace is passionate about contributing to WA’s arts and cultural sector, with a particular focus on ensuring the arts are made accessible and available to the wider community of people in regional Western Australia. Grace brings diverse skills and experience relating to visual arts, performing arts and film making.

Grace is set to complete her Bachelor of Arts (Arts Management) from WAAPA/ECU at the end of 2022. Grace joins the RAWA board with 7 years working and volunteering in the arts sector. In previous years, she has lent her skills to The Kalbarri Rebuild Fund, John Curtin College of the Arts, Perth Festival, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Foundation for the WA Museum, the Art Gallery of WA, Propel Youth Arts WA and the Kalbarri Zest Festival.

Region: Peel

Lesley has lived in Mandurah since 2006 and worked within the City for over 7 years as the Director for People and Communities at the City of Mandurah, giving her extensive experience of the issues impacting the regions. Now working with the the City of Wanneroo as Manager for Cultural Development Lesley has developed extensive knowledge of arts and culture and the impact the sector has on communities and individuals in developing cohesiveness, creativity, economic development and building community, especially in the regions.

Lesley was the Chair of John Tonkin College and Deputy Chair of Mandurah Performing Arts Centre as well as participating as a member on a number of other boards. She holds a Masters of Leadership and Management, is a Member of the Australian Institute of Management and continues to attend training to increase her skills and knowledge particularly in the arts and culture area.

Lesley’s wide range of skills include finance, marketing, management, leadership and strategic planning.