Our Board
Arts Wellington is governed by a board of volunteer trustees, comprising representatives of the arts, culture and heritage sector and other individuals who add value to the Trust’s operation by virtue of their networks and/or specialist expertise. A maximum of two Board members are nominated and elected by the Arts Wellington membership at the Trust’s Annual General Meeting. The Board appoints other trustees as vacancies arise.
John Allen (CEO, WellingtonNZ) and Gisella Carr (Head of Arts, Culture and Community Services, Wellington City Council) are ex officio members who are invited to Board meetings at the trustees’ discretion.
Meg Williams
Chair
Meg is the Executive Director of Tāwhiri: Festivals and Experiences, a not-for-profit trust which produces a number of major creative events in Wellington and elsewhere, including the New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Wellington Jazz Festival, Second Unit, Lexus Song Quest and one-off events like The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Meg is an experienced international festival and arts manager who has worked for major festivals and events in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. Meg has worked at Tāwhiri for 10 years, before she became Executive Director she specialised in marketing, sponsorship, fundraising as Head of Marketing and Development.
Garry Nicholas (Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Tauranga Moana)
Trustee
Garry is the Chief Executive/General Manager of Toi Māori, a leading cultural organisation that promotes the uniqueness, quality, and cultural expression of Māori arts. In his role there, he implements the Board’s policies and directives and provides leadership to staff and volunteers to achieve Toi Māori’s mission, vision, objectives and strategic goals and to work with the Board to assist it to fulfil its governance function.
Courtney Johnston
Trustee
Courtney Johnston took up the role of Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive of Te Papa Tongarewa in December 2019. Courtney has a background in museums and visual arts, including at City Gallery Wellington, National Library of New Zealand, and from 2012 to 2018 as Director of The Dowse Art Museum and Petone Settlers Museum Te Whare Whaakaro o Pito-one.
Courtney is the immediate past chair of Museums Aotearoa, chair of The Pantograph Punch, and a trustee of the Wellington Performing Arts Trust. She has also held governance and advisory roles with the National Digital Forum, Tohatoha (Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand), Inland Revenue, and MBIE.
Lester McGrath
Trustee
Lester is one of New Zealand’s most experienced performing arts managers, having worked in New Zealand, Australia and the UK in a career that spans over thirty years.
From 2007 – 18 he was General Manager and then Chief Executive of Auckland Theatre Company. During this time the company grew to become a flagship cultural organisation for Auckland. He also spearheaded the campaign to build the 675-seat ASB Waterfront Theatre, which now welcomes over 120,000 patrons annually.
While most of his career has been in theatre, he has also presented and toured dance, concerts and commercial entertainment in venues across Australasia, and into the United Kingdom and United States.
Lester is the Executive Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Claire Mabey
Trustee
Claire Mabey is founder and director of Verb Wellington. Verb runs events, festivals and residencies that celebrate writers, books, reading and ideas.
She is passionate about the independent arts ecology and will talk to anyone, any time about the fact that Wellington is one of the most vibrant literary cities in the world.
Heather O’Carroll
Trustee
Since graduating from Toi Whakaari: The New Zealand Drama School in 2000, Heather has worked as an actor, director and producer across Aotearoa. In 2016, Heather directed the New Zealand Premiere of Fleabag, the stage play the hit UK TV show of the same name is based on, at Centrepoint Theatre.
In 2008 Heather joined the New Zealand Festival team and worked in a variety of marketing and audience development roles, most recently as Head of Audience and Partnerships in 2018. In 2014 Heather worked in the Marketing team at Assembly Festival as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and from 2016 - 2018, she was the Programme Manager at BATS Theatre. Heather is currently the Marketing and Audience Development Manager for PANNZ.
Vanessa Immink - (Nga Wairiki o Ngati Apa, Tuwharetoa, Ngati Haua)
Trustee
Vanessa Immink is a wāhine Māori/Pākehā theatre maker, producer and marketer, with experience in touring large scale international productions to independent solo shows.
Vanessa graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Performing Arts – Musical Theatre) from Whitireia in 2015. She then went on to work as a production assistant & tour manager on international touring shows such as Singin In the Rain, Cats, Blue Man Group and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
Vanessa is the founder and creative producer of The Co – Lab, created in 2016 with a focus on producing emerging Māori and Pasifika artists’ new theatre work. Work including Kasiano Mita’s Talofa Papa (2017-2019) and Maia Diamond’s Fishin’ Chip (Kia Mau Festival 2019).
In June 2020 Vanessa was announced as the Senior Producer & Development Strategist for Kia Mau Festival, a Maori, Pasifika & Indigenous Arts Festival held in Wellington, as well as the Project Producer for Ngā Hua Toi.
Kirsten Mason
Trustee
Kirsten Mason is the General Manager of Orchestra Wellington. A proud Wellingtonian, after she graduated from Victoria University, Kirsten spent many years overseas in arts roles in Europe and the US and most recently four and a half years in Shanghai, China. In Shanghai she set up her own company and toured New Zealand performers around China, as well as creating and running a New Zealand Music Festival in Shanghai.
Prior roles include General Manager for Streetwise Opera in London, Development Manager for the Chamber Music Society of Detroit in Detroit, Michigan, and project roles for UNESCO in Turin, Italy. Kirsten returned home in 2015 to join Chamber Music New Zealand and took up the position of General Manager of Orchestra Wellington in early 2016.
To contact a Trustee of Arts Wellington please email info@artswellington.org.nz