For over twenty years, Catherine Croll has been a sought after judge and assessor of contemporary Australian art works. She is a founding member of the Hawkesbury One Collective, owns and tours the Catherine Croll Collection, established the Newcastle Art Space (2000) and Newcastle Emerging Art Prize (1998) and is a appointed trustee of the Newcastle Historic Reserve Trust which oversees the maintenance and management of the John Paynter Gallery.
Following her graduation from Alexander Mackie CAE with a Degree in Fine Art, Catherine pursued her passion for photography while traveling across America, England and Europe documenting the performances of: The Ramones, Graham Parker, Go Go’s, Rubber City Rebels, Iggy Pop, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Jackson, Madness, Sports, Lena Lovich, Blondie, Mental as Anything and the New York Dolls.
Catherine’s photographs have been published in RAM magazine, Roadrunner, Australian Record Buyers Guide and Rolling Stone Magazine. She has also been employed to take studio photographs for the Go Go’s (LA), The Plimsoles (LA) The Rattlers (NYC), Graham Parker and the Rumor (London), The Cure (London), The Passengers (NSW), The Saints (QLD) and The Sunnyboys (NSW). Images from these sessions were used for record covers, T-shirts, posters, flyers and national tour promotions.
In the mid 1980′s Catherine moved to the Riverina Region of NSW where she held the position of Head of School, Visual Arts, Narrandera Institute of TAFE teaching drawing, painting and photography. During this period she also served as a regular judge of all of the major art prizes including Griffith, Narrandera, Wagga and Cootamundra.
In 1991, following her appointment as the Regional Arts Development Officer (RADO) for the Eastern Riverina Arts Program, Catherine established a public gallery in the ABC Radio Riverina Studios and began hosting a series of touring exhibitions from across NSW. In 1992, Catherine began managing the ‘ARTStart’ NSW Youth Arts and Skills Festival (Riverina Region) which provided annual seeding grants to dozens of young people and assisted with the staging of performances, production of publications and exhibition of contemporary art.
In 1996, Catherine moved to Newcastle to take up the position of Executive Director, Newcastle Community Arts Centre. It was in this capacity that she became involved in the establishment of the Newcastle Art Space, Newcastle Emerging Art Prize and Arts Hunter. Catherine is highly respected amongst her peers in the arts community as a patron, collector and practitioner.
Recently Curated
2008/9 Sydney Olympic Park Travelling Exhibition – Beijing
2008/9 The Mayors Public Art Project – Randwick City Council
2008 Beijing Olympics Cultural Exhibition – Sydney Olympic Park
2007 Catherine’s Great Adventure – John Paynter Gallery
2006 But I Luv U Baby – Newcastle Art Space
Recently Judged
2005 Artscrawl Fringe Festival, Newcastle
2005 ARTScrawl Portrait Prize, Pokolbin
2004 MATTARA Art Prize, Newcastle
i have a painting by harold thornton and i am told he was out this way and painted some pictures around the town but i would like to get it authenticated by someone thank you Ray.