Thriving Cultural Ecologies: Making space for creative practice

Date: Monday, 15th September 2025

Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm

Creative practices and practitioners are central to restoring and producing healthy social and ecological systems that allow cities to flourish. Yet spaces are being lost, and artists are being marginalised within many of the existing systems. A robust and resilient cultural infrastructure is needed that includes not only equitable spaces to make, share, and live, but also just institutions, supportive policies, broad economic frameworks, networks of care, shared knowledges and access to participation. This panel asks how to enable artists to live, work and take risks in Australia’s major cities, and considers the role of cultural practice in transforming sociopolitical, economic, and environmental systems.

Chair

Kate Goodwin, Adjunct Professor, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney

Panel

Matt Levinson, Head of Corporate Affairs, Committee for Sydney

Heidi Axelsen, Research Coordinator, School of Humanities, Creative Industry and Social Sciences, Co-director of MAPA Art and Architecture

Dr Hugo Moline, Lecturer, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle, Co-director of MAPA Art and Architecture

Speaker Bios

Kate Goodwin is Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney, Goodwin is co-founder of the platform ‘Architecture Amplified’ and member of the Tin Sheds Gallery advisory board. She is a recipient of the Byera Hadley Travel Fellowship, studying the architecture of Aboriginal art centres in NT. She was Heinz Curator and Head of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts in London (2003-21).

Heidi Axelsen is an artist who has worked in local government (including Bankstown Art Centre and Creative Industries at Blue Mountains City Council) and PhD candidate at MADA, Monash University. She co-directs MAPA Art and Architecture, the art and architecture practice commissioned by the City of Sydney to develop the public art strategy and subsequent Open Field Agency Residency infrastructure and program in the Danks Street south precinct.

Dr Hugo Moline is an architect, artist, urbanist and researcher and Program Convenor of the Master in Architecture, University of Newcastle. He co-directs the MAPA Art and Architecture an art and architecture practice.

Matt Levinson leads culture policy and corporate affairs at independent think tank Committee for Sydney, and is part of the senior team coordinating its program of advocacy, events and research. His recent work has focused on creative production space, cultural tax reform, street food, sport and live music. He brings social change experience in government, advocacy and purpose organisations, is a member of the NSW Government’s 24 Hour Economy Advisory Council, and produces a podcast on Sydney’s creative changemakers