A Denis Winston Memorial Lecture, hosted in collaboration with the School of Architecture, Design and Planning.
Featuring acclaimed visual artist, performer and film maker Tina Havelock Stephens, this memorial event considers the special role of public art and its intersections across architecture and urban design in creating inclusive and vibrant places. Tina Havelock Stevens’ recent works include Sonic Luminescence, an ever-evolving large scale sound and light installation located in the underground pedestrian tunnel at the new Metro Martin Place, Sydney (2024) and a 32 channel immersive sound installation for Sydney Football Stadium as part of the permanent Public Art program (2022). We will also hear from Michael Dagostino, Director of the Chau Chak Wing Museum and curator of the Australian Pavilion 2026 Venice Biennale.
Chair
Nicole Gurran, Professor of Urban & Regional Planning at University of Sydney, Director, Henry Halloran Urban & Regional Research Initiative, University of Sydney
Keynote speaker
Tina Havelock Stevens, Independent Multidisciplinary Artist
Panel
Michael Dagostino, Director Chau Chak Wing Museum, the University of Sydney
Dr Enya Moore, School of Architecture Design and Planning, the University of Sydney
Nicole Gurran is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney, where she directs the Henry Halloran Urban & Regional Research Initiative. Over two decades her research and publications have focused on housing affordability, urban planning, and climate change. She is committed to informing public policy and debate through her research, media commentary, and advice to governments, and most recently served as Co-Commissioner on the People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis.
Tina Havelock Stevens’ multidisciplinary art practice animates an experience of the world that is inquiring and explores the ambiguities of human nature, attuning to the rhythm and movement of the psyche and structures and environments that we inhabit and traverse. Present in her works is an innate aural and visual intuition. Whether a gallery exhibition, public art, or improvised performance, she prompts viewers to connect with place, time, and each other. In 2024 she successfully launched her acclaimed major sound and light installation SONIC LUMINESCENCE for the new Pedestrian Link Muru Giligu, Metro Martin Place. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including a major commission for the MCA’s C3 West program (2019), and in 2022 was commissioned by the NSW government to create a site-specific sound work HEAR HERE for the new Sydney Football Stadium.Havelock Stevens is also the recipient of the prestigious 65th Blake Prize (2018) amongst many other awards. She currently holds one of the studio residencies at Artspace in Sydney and is represented by Cassandra Bird Gallery.
Michael Dagostino commenced as Director in March 2023, with over 25 years of experience in the contemporary arts sector. Michael has had many leadership roles, including as inaugural Director of the Parramatta Artists' Studios, where he developed an innovative hub for emerging artists to extend their professional practices locally and internationally. In 2011, Michael became the Director of Campbelltown Arts Centre, a flagship cultural venue for contemporary multi-disciplinary art. Under his leadership, the Centre won numerous awards, including 3 Imagine Awards (consecutively and the first art gallery to do so), as well as a prestigious ICOM (International Council of Museums) award for With Secrecy and Despatch, the first non‐national or state cultural institution to win this award. Michael’s career includes being the Chair of Artspace, on the boards of Accessible Arts, FBi Radio, and Sydney Writers Festival and leadership positions on the NSW State Government Arts and Cultural Advisory Committee, Western Sydney Arts Alliance and Sydney Cultural Network.
Dr Enya Moore is a researcher, educator, and design practitioner. Her work explores the cultural ecosystems that support creative, community-engaged practices. With a background in design research, cultural festivals, and public space, she is particularly interested in how cultural practices emerge within communities rather than through top-down initiatives. Enya is a lecturer in design at the University of Sydney and a member of the collective Broken Fields. Her writing has appeared in Journal of Design History, Design and Culture, and publications such as Frame, Icon, and Indesign.