ABOUT US
Contributors, researchers and curricula designers
Our educators are tertiary trained in visual art, creative and performing arts, communication, psychology, neuroscience and education.
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Kelly-Ann Denton
Chief Visual Officer
BVA Hons., Master of Visual Arts (Syd)
Kelly-Ann Denton holds an undergraduate, Honours and postgraduate degree in Visual Art. Commencing a practice in 1994, she began teaching and writing curricula in 2000. Courses written for Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney; The National Art School and The Australian Centre for Photography include:
The Visual Mind and The Imagination; Contemporary Portraiture Symposium - Art of the Portrait; Advanced Photoshop, Digital Narratives; Master of Documentary Photography; Digital Visualisation.
During her time as a lecturer, curriculum writer and speaker Kelly-Ann has practiced as a photographer, digital artist and retoucher.
David Alais
Professor - School of Psychology
BA Hons., Dip Arts, PhD
David is a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Sydney with twenty years’ experience in studying how the brain combines the senses into a vision of the external world. His particular interests are in understanding how the brain deals with ambiguity and gaps in knowledge when building its perception of the world.
Professor Alais spent a decade working overseas in the USA, France and Italy with world leaders in the field of perception and sensory neuroscience and heads an active multisensory research group in Sydney studying vision, touch and hearing.
Dorsey Smith
Artist, Storyteller
BFA Hons. Master of Fine Arts (UNSW)
Dorsey Smith is a Dhunghtti and Gumbangiir man who has completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the College of Fine Arts at the University of NSW prior to completing Honours and a Master of Fine Art. As well as being an accomplished artist, Dorsey is also a talented dancer, performing with the Dhungutti Traditional Dancers who have represented Australia in the South Pacific Festival of the Arts in Tahiti. Dorsey also toured Africa on a cultural tour in 2007. Dorsey’s artwork has been exhibited at the Boomalli Art Gallery in 2011, 2006, 2005 and 2003.
Dorsey began his visual arts career in 1985 when he enrolled and completed a course in Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Practice at the Greenhill Reserve, Kempsey. Ten years later in 1996 Smith undertook a course in Koori Art and Design at Kempsey TAFE and in 2001 he continued his TAFE art schooling graduating from the Eora Centre for Performing and Visual Arts in Chippendale, Sydney.
Dorsey is an avid storyteller with enormous talent in metaphoric thinking, symbolism and transferring mental imagery from the mind’s eye to the audience.
Jo Tuscano
Author - Writer
BA Dip Ed, Cert TESOL and a Masters in Writing.
Jo Tuscano is a writer, teacher, editor, presenter and mentor. She is the author of the novel The River Child and co-author of Back on the Block: Bill Simon’s Story. Jo has a BA. Dip Ed, Cert TESOL and a Masters in Writing. Jo taught English, ESL and History in NSW high schools for seventeen years and taught in Adult Education and International Education.
Jo has worked in Multicultural Education and Aboriginal Education with the Cabramatta Community and Tranby Aboriginal College. Jo has been published in The Sydney Morning Herald, the New England Review, Westerly Journal, NSW History Teachers’ Association Journal and various other media. She has written and presented on the Kinchella Boy’s Home, the Stolen Generations and youth justice and mandatory sentencing in the Northern Territory.
She has appeared on Stateline and ABC Radio and is a guest speaker at Reconciliation Western Sydney. Her work has been performed with the Voices of Women Project in 2019.
Lauren Elise Barlow
Head - Creative and Performing Arts
BA Visual Communications (Monash) BA Arts Education (UNSW)
Lauren is a Visual Arts Educator who holds undergraduate degrees in Visual Communications and Arts Education. She is currently studying a Masters in Curating & Cultural Leadership at the University of New South Wales. Lauren began her career in the visual advertising and design industry, then moved to education and programming. Lauren balances several aspects of a creative career, primarily as a Head of Creative & Performing Arts to students from preschool to HSC. She focuses on offering learning experiences that teach students about the joy of art making, and the importance of practice encompassing the imagination, social engagement and cultural connection. Her particular area of interest is in the development of visual understanding, engagement and capabilities, particularly for youths and adolescents.
Bronwen Haralambous
Curriculum Designer / Research Consultant
Master of Educational Leadership. PhD. Education
Bronwen is an Adjunct and Lecturer in the Graduate Certificate in Steiner Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC). She works as a Research Consultant for Steiner Education Australia (SEA). Bronwen co-directed a research project into Steiner Graduate Outcomes that was funded by SEA and run through USC.
Bronwen has developed her curriculum writing skills by designing postgraduate courses in Steiner Education and by writing the Academic Foundations Paper and the High School English Curriculum for the Australian Steiner Curriculum. Re-imagining Steiner’s philosophy of imagination in the contemporary context is the focus that ties Bronwen’s various career pathways together.
