Design and Art Australia Online

Dianne Heenan is an independent researcher, writer and visual artist based in Brisbane. Dianne graduated from the Queensland College of Art (1976) and practised in Brisbane’s artist-run-spaces until the mid-1980s. She was a member of A ROOM exhibiting collective from June to December 1984 where she held her first solo exhibition. She designed stage sets for La Boîte Theatre, participated in exhibitions and projects at the Institute of Modern Art, was a committee member of the Queensland Artworkers Union and played a role in the establishment of Art Walk Magazine. Dianne was a founding member of THAT Contemporary Art Space and exhibited in the first member’s exhibition in 1985. During this period, Dianne held arts management positions including Co-ordinator of the Cultural Activities Centre at the University of Queensland Union and Theatre Project Co-ordinator with the Queensland Arts Council. Her art practice evolved into public art museum management as director of Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum (1985 – 1990) and Rockhampton Art Gallery (1990 – 1995). As inaugural director of the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum Dianne introduced innovative gallery management practices and promoted regional arts development including the formation of the Regional Galleries Association. As director of the Rockhampton Art Gallery, Dianne reformed collection management and built bridges between the gallery and the community. She has held two solo exhibitions of her work and participated in several group exhibitions. Her works are held in private and public collections in Australia. Dianne completed a Master of Arts Research in Sociology at Griffith University (1999) and worked in the government sector until 2012. Dianne has been a Doctoral Candidate in history at Griffith University since 2018. Her thesis is a biography entitled Caught in the Riptide: the life and death of Peter McLoughlin 1846 – 1883. Her research project makes connections between family, local, national and global histories in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Writers:

Date written:

2017

Last updated:

2020