IN DEBORAH’S 25-YEAR CAREER, SHE HAS COLLABORATED WITH HUNDREDS OF ARTISTS.

Public and private partnerships | Project delivery | Arts management | Public arts policy | Strategic business planning | Public and international relations | Board and governance | Charitable trusts | Government appointments

EXPERIENCE

  • As Executive Director of SCAPE Public Art, Deborah created and moulded SCAPE into a well-respected and recognisable organisation on the international stage. 

    At Ōtākaro Limited, she developed a partnership with mana whenua Ngāi Tuāhuriri, producing the breathtaking Te Aika by Rachael Rakena and Simon Kaan. This stunning artwork graces the entrance to Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre.

  • 2015 Selection panel member for Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial.

    2011 - 2016 Arts representative to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) Community Forum.

    2012 - 2013 Facilitated $250,000 of new funding in six months to stage the inaugural Art Beat programme. This put music, graffiti art, murals, performances, art installations and exhibitions into Re:START over summer 2012/2013 to keep emerging artists working following the devastating Christchurch earthquakes of 2011.

    2011 - 2017 Elected as member of Art Voice Christchurch to develop vision and strategy for the arts as an essential part of the rebuilt city.

    2011 - 2017 Trustee of the Christchurch Arts Centre Trust Board.

  • 2017 Invited by the French Government to study public art management and practices in Paris, Lille, Saint-Brieuc and Nantes.

    2017 Nominated for the New Zealander of the Year Awards in the local hero category.

    2016 Finalist in the Westpac Women of Influence Awards New Zealand in the arts and culture category.

    2011 Creative New Zealand funded a professional development trip to travel in Europe, United Kingdom, and New York to discuss and learn from commissioning agencies dealing with communities in the wake of disaster.

    2009 The French Embassy supported a research trip to La Biennale de Lyon and to study public art models in France.

    2005 A US State Department-funded voluntary visitor programme to Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and Philadelphia to study public art models in the US.

  • 2023 Participated in an Arts Northern Rivers panel for the Art Practice in 3 Bites project, titled “Public Art, Public Space, and Collective Identity”, presented in collaboration with Lismore Regional Gallery and Southern Cross University. Plus, facilitated Practice 101: Public Art, a professional development workshop for creatives.

    2017 Invited by WESTAF and Forecast Public Art as one of only 15 international participants to present The Future History of Public Art at the 2017 Symposium of the Western States Arts Federation Honolulu, Hawaii.

    2016 One of the international visitors to speak in Sydney at the Sculpture by The Sea Sydney 20th anniversary conference Sculpture: In Public Space.

    2015 Keynote presentation for the Tauranga Public Art Talks at the Tauranga Art Gallery.

    2014 One of three New Zealand arts leaders invited to present at the 6th World Summit on Arts & Culture in Santiago, Chile.

    2013 Presented at the International Sculpture Symposium in Auckland, in the panel session “International Sculpture Projects” with Hideaki Fukutake and David Handley.

    2007 Presented in Melbourne at Material City: Art in Urban Spaces. Presentation was selected for publication by the Melbourne City Council following the symposium, which explored the city’s laneways public art commissioning programme.

  • Project Director for the installation of New Zealand’s largest sculpture on public display – Fanfare for Christchurch by Neil Dawson. 

    Delivery of the first public sculptures STAY for Christchurch and New Zealand, by British Sculptor Sir Antony Gormley.