Arts x Gov x Ppl: The subtle art of doing creative stuff with communities and government

Creative ideas can change a city.
But the path from strategy to implementation to artmaking rarely runs a straight line.

City People invites you to a discussion about the challenges and rewards of doing creative work with communities and government - with Aunty Lola Ryan, Brigette Uren and Chris Fox.

Join us as Dr Michael Cohen talks with our guests about:

• How artists and government agencies can best navigate their different languages, timeframes and processes

• Meaningful collaboration on arts and cultural projects with community members

• Co-design and integration of arts with designers of built form
  

RSVP by Sunday 7 September 2025 via Humanitix.

Light refreshments will be provided: there may even be cake :)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Aunty Lola Ryan is a Dharawal elder, artist and community leader in Sydney. One of ten children, her family comes from the La Perouse Aboriginal mission. Aunty Lola works closely with the Gujaga Foundation, the peak organisation leading language, cultural and research activities within the La Perouse Aboriginal community. For twenty years she was the Aboriginal Health Worker - Child and Family Health for the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. She also hails from a long lineage of esteemed Dharawal shell artists from La Perouse including her mother Lola Delia Ryan, aunty Mavis Longbottom and grandmother ‘Ma Page’.

Brigette Uren is Program Director Arts at Health Infrastructure. A respected lateral thinker, effective communicator and planner, Brigette connects multi-disciplinary teams to embed creative practice within public infrastructure to improve everyday life. She is driven by the role of the arts as a catalyst for bringing people together and strengthening communities to enable systemic change. Brigette is the Chair – Arts Sub Group at the Australasian Health Infrastructure Alliance and the former Cultural Director of Maitland Regional Art Gallery.

Chris Fox is an artist, academic and founder of Studio Chris Fox (SCF), a multi-disciplinary design studio which aims to transform the built environment by bridging the disciplines of art, architecture and engineering. SCF utilises an innovative computational workflow to drive future-making strategies and create structures that push the boundaries of what seems physically possible, whilst telling meaningful stories of place and people through time. His studio’s landmark public commissions working across the City of Sydney include Interchange Pavilion (2020), Interloop (2017) and Rozelle Interchange (2023). Chris is a member of AKIN, the competition award-winning design team for Sydney’s Barangaroo Harbour Park, due for completion in 2027.

City People is an Australian organisation committed to strategising, planning and delivering arts and cultural programs that create well-loved places with dynamic identities. By speaking the language of artists, communities and government, we shift how people feel about places through arts and culture. City People’s team brings over 50 years in combined experience as practicing artists, placemaking creative producers and arts strategists for governments. We offer services in arts & cultural strategy, planning and implementation and artmaking. Current clients include Singapore National Arts Council, NSW Health Infrastructure, Transport for NSW and Bradfield Development Authority.

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NOTES

For any enquiries, please email Dylan Goh - Marketing Coordinator @ City People - via dylan@citypeople.com

Photos and videos may be taken at this event and used for promotional and archival purposes by City People. If you'd prefer not to be in any photos or videos, please let one of our staff members know.

Photo credit: Wanna Dance, 2021, City People, Studio Chris Fox and Emma Saunders; photo: Anna Kucera