Dean of Creative Arts

Amanda Lawson

Amanda Lawson was appointed professor and head of the School of Art & Design at the University of Wollongong in 2004 and appointed as Dean in June 2008.  She has more than 20 years' experience in the arts in Australia and during that time has been director of various arts organizations - the Meat Market Craft Centre in Melbourne, the Crafts Council of NSW and from 1998-2004 Bathurst Regional Art Gallery.

She has also worked at the Australian Council for the Arts, with NSW State and Regional Development and AusIndustry and as an independent arts consultant. At UOW she teaches in the areas of curatorial practice and art history and theory.

Amanda gained a BA from the University of Edinburgh and a first class honours degree in Arts at the University of Wollongong before completing a PhD in Australian Literature at the University of Sydney in 2002.

Her current research projects include an Australian Research Council Linkage Project with Museums and Galleries NSW and Object:  Australian Centre for Craft and Design exploring exhibition interpretation and audience development in contemporary art and craft.  She is also leading a collaborative project with colleagues from the Faculties of Creative Arts and Informatics, trialling new approaches to collections documentation and access in partnership with the Australian Museum and is a member of the Social Innovations Network at UOW.  She has held many industry and board appointments and is currently Chair of Arts NSW Visual Arts/Craft Committee and a board member of Wollongong City Gallery.