Welcome Jo-Anne Driessens.

Arts Law would like to welcome Jo-Anne Driessens to the team as our new Artists in the Black Coordinator.

Jo-Anne was raised in Brisbane, Queensland and has been a practicing photographer for 25 years. Completing a 4 year Photography cadetship at the State Library of Queensland in 1999, Jo-Anne has also worked across various arts and community focused roles and is able to bring holistic skills into specialised projects including curatorial frameworks; historical and contemporary research experience and community and cultural protocol principles.

Her passion in working with archival records and old photos has assisted her in connecting with her Aboriginal family and learning of the historical connections to Cherbourg (Barambah) and Yarrabah communities and also the traditional connections to Guwa (Koa) people through her Great Grandmother, (Nancy Watson/Chambers) and Yalangi and Yimithirr people through her Great Grandfather (Charlie Chambers).

Jo-Anne has worked closely with Artists of all disciplines and has successfully delivered the South Stradbroke Island Indigenous Artist Camps (2014-2022), which combines all of her passions for camping, photographing artists on country, sharing camp fire stories and food and allowing time to just ‘be’ present in nature which balances out her commitments in photographing at the many Festivals and live music events throughout the years.

Artists in the Black is a dedicated service of Arts Law for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and communities. We provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, arts organisations and businesses with legal advice, resources and professional development opportunities. Artists in the Black services are free to access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists in a culturally safe and appropriate way. Jo-Anne will be working with the team to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and communities, deliver education workshops and meet with communities on outreach trips.