'After the Rain' experience with Tony Albert & Groundswell Giving

Please join us on the eve of the 2026 Philanthropy Australia conference for a very special Groundswell experience curated with Tony Albert – Groundswell Board Director, one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists, and Artistic Director of the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial, After the Rain.

Special exhibition tour with curator Tony Albert & Groundswell founder Clare Ainsworth Herschell, followed by drinks and conversation on the HOTA rooftop

2–4pm Monday 7th September

HOTA, Home of the Arts

Gold Coast /Kombumerri

After the Rain brings together powerful works by First Nations artists from across the continent.

At a time of profound environmental and social change, the exhibition asks us to consider what can grow beyond crisis — and the knowledge, cultural leadership and relationships with Country that can help shape a more hopeful future.

This will be a rare and intimate opportunity to experience After the Rain in Tony’s company, hearing directly from him about the ideas behind the exhibition and the role of art, culture and Country in shaping how we understand this moment — and imagine what comes next.

Following the tour, we’ll gather for rooftop drinks with Tony, Clare and the Groundswell Giving community — an opportunity to connect, reflect and continue the conversation before the Philanthropy Australia Conference begins the following morning.

We’d love you to join us for a special afternoon of art, conversation, climate and connection.

“Much like a severe storm, climate change disrupts the balance of ecosystems, communities and economies, leaving destruction in its wake. After the Rain suggests that in these post-crisis periods there are opportunities for growth and reflection. There’s a vision of hope that humanity can repair damage, renew its commitment to the Earth, and adapt for a sustainable future.”

Tony Albert

Please register your travel preferences when you RSVP.

About Tony Albert

A Girramay, Yidindji, Kuku Yalanji man, Tony Albert is one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists with a longstanding interest in the cultural misrepresentation of Aboriginal people. He is a cultural leader, both as an artist and a curator. Drawing on both personal and collective histories, his multidisciplinary practice considers the ways in which optimism might be utilised to overcome adversity. He courageously engages in difficult conversations to shed light on problematic histories and current injustices faced by First Nations people.

Albert is acknowledged industry wide as a valued ambassador for Indigenous community and culture. In December 2025 he was awarded a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Albert was the 2025 Artistic Director for the 5th National Indigenous Art TrienniaI: After The Rain for the National Gallery of Australia and the inaugural First Nations Curatorial Fellow for the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. He the first Indigenous Trustee for the Art Gallery of New South Wales, a member of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Indigenous advisory, a board member for the City of Sydney’s Public Art Panel and member of the Art & Place Board at the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

In 2026, a major survey exhibition of Albert’s expansive practice will be unveiled at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. This follows his 2018 retrospective Visible at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. Remarkably, at just 33 years old, Albert became the youngest artist to receive a survey exhibition at a state institution in Australia.

Albert has received numerous prestigious public commissions and accolades both nationally and internationally. Most recently, he was named the 2025 First Nations Established Artist of the Year by Creative Australia. In 2024, proppaNOW, the acclaimed Indigenous collective Albert co-founded, received the Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice (USA). In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the arts, Albert was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University in 2023.

Significant public art commissions include The Big Hose, an iconic outdoor play sculpture for QAGOMA made in collaboration with artist Nell which was launched in November 2025; Inhabitant, a monumental 15-metre-long floating botanical sculpture which welcomes visitors at the entrance of the transformed Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane (2024); Murmurations in collaboration with Angela Tiatia for the Museum of History NSW, Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney (2023); Unpacking History, a Native Bouquet for New York commissioned for Public Art Fund’s Global Positioning, exhibited on bus shelters throughout New York City, Chicago, and Boston (2022); Two Worlds Colliding, a culturally informed design and artwork for Allianz Sydney Football Stadium (2022); Healing Land, Remembering Country an interactive installation for NIRIN: the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020) and Yininmadyemi Thou didst Let Fall, Hyde Park War Memorial, City of Sydney (2015).

Albert is strongly represented in major national and international collections including Fondation Opal, Switzerland; Tia Art, National Gallery of Australia; National Gallery of Victoria; Australian War Memorial, Canberra; Parliament House New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of New South Wales; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Art Gallery of Western Australia; Art Gallery of South Australia; and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.

About Clare Ainsworth Herschell

Clare is a co-founder of Groundswell and describes herself as a ‘collector of good eggs’. She is a leader across the fields of philanthropy, arts, culture, and climate advocacy. She is passionate about the role creativity plays in shaping communities and driving social impact, and is known for convening diverse people, ideas and disciplines to spark collaboration and collective impact.

Clare is a founding member of Nexus and New Gen at Philanthropy Australia. She is a Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW Foundation and sits on the board of Grata Fund. In 2025 she received the Alumni of the Year Award from UTS Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.

About Groundswell Giving

Groundswell is an independent charitable organisation bringing people together to fund the solutions our future depends on. Since launching in 2020, our community has distributed over $7 million to more than 145 high–impact climate initiatives nationwide.

We connect people who care deeply about the climate crisis with the organisations and leaders driving real-world change – from frontline communities to national advocacy campaigns. We focus on the places where philanthropy can play its most powerful role: providing flexible, catalytic funding that helps test new ideas, build public support, shift policy, and unlock larger–scale change. By backing advocacy, organising and systems change, we help create the conditions for climate solutions to succeed at speed and scale.

Learn more: www.groundswellgiving.org