Our dedicated team of staff are passionate about the arts, regional communities, and the services that we provide and promote. The majority of the staff have close links with regional Western Australia, and all bring a wealth of knowledge and skills to the organisation.
Carla Steele
Project Officer
Carla Steele
Project Officer
Email: csteele@regionalartswa.org.au
Carla has worked with Regional Arts WA in two different positions since October 2012. She has studied Photography and Community Development/Sociology and has spent a few years working in various industries in the UK and Canada. Carla loves travel and has held exhibitions of her travel photography from her European and African trips. Carla loves the fact that her position gives her the opportunity to explore this vast home state on a deeper level. She is also a music enthusiast and moonlights as a DJ around Perth, and one day hopes to have a goat farm in Africa.
Lorraine Sanders
Operations Officer
Lorraine Sanders
Operations Officer
Email: lsanders@regionalartswa.org.au
Lorraine started her career as a freelancer working her way around the Western Australian performing arts sector. Wanting to further her skills she embraced an opportunity to work in television becoming the Senior Production Manager for ABC TV Perth. Performing Lines WA drew her back into the arts as Associate Producer and realising this is her passion she jumped at the opportunity to join the Regional Arts WA team in May 2016.
Jon Solmundson
Communications Officer
Jon Solmundson
Communications Officer
Email: JSolmundson@regionalartswa.org.au
Phone: 9200 5865
Jon was born in Canada, but when the family fled to warmer climes and took root in Perth, they wasted no time getting acquainted with WA’s beautiful regions, spending every break from school and work camping around the South West and Gascoyne, with a brief stint living in Albany to round it all out. After his first gig working as a journalist in the Mid West, Jon came back to Perth in 2017 to take up the role of Marketing Assistant at Country Arts – charged with a passion to help build the culture of communities he had spent so much time reporting on. Jon is adept at communication and message crafting – stemming from a fascination with human networks and the way people share stories, through languages visual, spoken and written. In his spare time he enjoys playing games with friends, cooking with the radio loud enough to drown out his singing, and helping out the local youth group.
Philippa Maughan
Program Manager
Philippa Maughan
Program Manager
Email: pmaughan@regionalartswa.org.au
Philippa grew up on a farm in Nukarni, north of Merredin, and performed in her grade seven end-of-year concert on the Cummins Theatre stage. Joining Regional Arts WA in October 2007 Philippa arrived at her first day at work, suitcase in tow, to embark on a five hour road trip to Denmark with her new boss to attend Regional Arts WA’s Pulse State Regional Arts Conference. Philippa is passionate about assisting regional communities have the best arts experience possible. Philippa is also the Deputy Chair of The Blue Room Theatre.
Gemma Robins
Project Officer
Gemma Robins
Project Officer
Email: grobins@regionalartswa.org.au
Phone: 08 9200 6212
Gemma is a regional arts and culture enthusiast. She started her journey in the arts at Perth Theatre Company in 2008, moving to Regional Arts WA (formally Country Arts WA) in 2010, where she has held various positions in operations, marketing, and project management.
A former panellist for the Propel Youth Arts WA’s Drug Aware YCulture Metro grant and the Department of Culture and the Arts grants for four years, she also sat on the 2014 National Youth Week KicksART Festival panel, and was the volunteer Marketing Coordinator at TEDxPerth in 2015.
In a move that took her outside of the state, Gemma spent two years living and working in the small regional Japanese town of Sasayama in Hyogo prefecture. Following this adventure, she returned to Perth in 2018 and took up a role at Georgia Malone Consulting, where she worked on the Perth International Jazz Festival, Fairbridge Festival and the Performing Arts WA Awards
Gemma is now back at Regional Arts WA managing its Regional Arts Network and Regional Arts Sector Investment initiatives.
Fleur Hardy
Project Officer
Fleur Hardy
Project Officer
Email: FHardy@regionalartswa.org.au
Phone: 9200 6200
Fleur has worked and volunteered with arts organisations in Western Australia and Sweden for over six years. Growing up across four regions in Western Australia she felt the positive impact the Arts has on communities in regional and remote areas first hand. Her ultimate goal is to use her operational skills to contribute to the ongoing success and development of Arts projects in Regional WA. Being on the move since early childhood also bred a love for travel that saw her travel solo through Europe, exploring different cultures and allowing her to see how other countries are working to preserve their cultural heritage through arts projects.
Paul MacPhail
Chief Executive Officer
Paul MacPhail
Chief Executive Officer
Email: pmacphail@regionalartswa.org.au
Paul has worked in the arts in Western Australia for nearly 30 years, starting out as an actor, then a writer and director of theatre for young people. When no one else was watching he began managing projects and companies big and small in regional and metropolitan centres, including the Regional Arts Australia Summit: Arts & Edges, Southern Edge Arts and Yirra Yaakin. He was on the Board of Regional Arts WA for six years before jumping the fence and becoming General Manager in 2009, then CEO in 2016. Everything Paul knows he learnt from Looney Tunes cartoons.
Suzanne Fielding
Finance Officer
Suzanne Fielding
Finance Officer
Email: accounts@regionalartswa.org.au
Suzanne is the longest standing Regional Arts WA staff member, commencing in 1996 in her part time finance role. She enjoys travelling with an edge, mastering treks in various locations around the world including the Camino de Santiago walk in Spain, to the Bibbulmun track in Western Australia. Suzanne has a strong interest in Indigenous art and is known to purchase artworks on her journeys.
Jessica Anderson
Program Manager
Jessica Anderson
Program Manager
Email: janderson@regionalartswa.org.au
Jessica has worked at Regional Arts WA since March 2010, with the first six years spent honing her skills in Regional Arts Development before taking on the reigns as interim General Manager in August 2016. She is passionate about regional arts organisations and ensuring their ongoing viability and sustainability in WA. She has sat in over 20 assessment meetings, spent time in all nine regions, countless hours working with regional people to achieve their goals and loves her job! She completed a Graduate Certificate in Social Impact at University of Western Australia in 2015 while maintaining full time work and holds a secret aspiration to return to study again. Jess Aye, as she is affectionately known, can be found with her nose in a book on the weekends, preferably on the beach at Gracetown.
Hannah Chambers
Project Officer
Hannah Chambers
Project Officer
Email: hchambers@regionalartswa.org.au
Hannah has studied business management and worked for Country Music Club of Boyup Brook for five years in administration prior to joining the team at Regional Arts WA in July 2015. Hannah has also completed an internship at West Australia Music (WAM) during 2015 and is a peer assessor for the Department of Culture and the Arts and Drug Aware YCulture Regional program. Hannah is inspired by regional art organisations delivering events and seeing projects come alive in regional Western Australia that create positive impact in regional communities.
Weng-Si Cheang
Program Manager
Weng-Si Cheang
Program Manager
Email: WCheang@regionalartswa.org.au
Phone: 9200 6202
Weng-Si is an innovative and creative professional who has worked across both the commercial and not-for-profit sectors. She has strong skills in developing and implementing strategic campaigns with experience in media relations, program delivery, community engagement, and brand management. She enjoys ‘punny’ jokes, painting and seeing unique Western Australian shows with family and friends.
Hayley Dart
Project Officer
Hayley Dart
Project Officer
Email: hdart@regionalartswa.org.au
Hayley grew up in country Western Australia in the Wheatbelt and Peel regions. After spending a couple of years travelling the world Hayley returned to study Community Development and Sociology at Murdoch University. Her passion for arts and culture, and love of the country saw her pursue a university placement with Regional Arts WA in 2011 and she has since held numerous positions in the organisation working with Operations, Regional Arts Development and Marketing programs. Hayley enjoys working for an organisation that shares her belief that life feels better when you are with others and have the opportunity to be creative or pursue your passions. Hayley has a keen interest in different art forms particularly music and can be found chasing a toddler in her spare time.
Monique Boucher
Project Officer
Monique Boucher
Project Officer
Email: mboucher@regionalartswa.org.au
After many years working various contracting roles in performing arts in Australia and overseas, Monique thought it was time to get a grown up ‘full time’ job in Perth. In 2011, the Performing Arts Touring Officer role appealed as she saw an avenue to help regional people have access to arts and culture, like city folk. Having lived her schooling years in Narrogin, Monique understood how isolated one can feel living in a small country town. Her passions lie in researching ‘nerdy’ local history, listening to vinyls, travelling, writing, and Monique’s true love is her tour business, Hidden deTours.
