John Geoffrey Smithies (born 1954) is an Australian artist and arts manager. He is a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and installation artistAustralian Art Auction Records
''John Geoffrey Smithies (1954-.) Australia''. Retrieved 3 March 2015. who has been director of the State Film Centre of Victoria, but is best known as the founding director of the

Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of film, television, videogames, and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbourne, Victoria. During the 2014-15 finan ...

.Making Culture Count
''John Smithies''. Retrieved 28 February 2015.ACMI
''Report of Operations, 2002''. Retrieved 28 February 2015.

Early life

Smithies was born in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in 1954. He studied at the Tasmanian School of Art, the

South Australian School of Art The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

and the

Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe The State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe () is an art school located in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History The Academy was founded in 1854 by Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden, with the landscape painter Johann Wilhelm Schirmer as ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Career

From 1992, John Smithies was director of the State Film Centre of Victoria, until its merger with

Film Victoria VicScreen, formerly known as Film Victoria, is the Victoria State Government, Victorian Government’s creative and economic screen development agency. They function behind the scenes, supporting professionals, infrastructure, projects and ev ...

in 1997 formed Cinemedia. At Cinemedia, Smithies was deputy director, with prime responsibility for developing the

(ACMI). ACMI is the premier cinema-culture venue and exhibitor, and the first institution of its type in Australia. It houses exhibition spaces, state-of-the art cinemas, and media production spaces, and the combined access collection of the National Film and Sound Archive and the State film and media collection. Smithies became the first director and CEO of ACMI in March 2002. He was responsible for opening the new public facilities at

Federation Square Federation Square (colloquially Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets built above busy ra ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in October 2002.Cultural Development Network
''Staff''. Retrieved 28 February 2015. After a period of turmoil, with the organisation over budget, Smithies resigned from the Victorian Public Service in 2004. He later said the facility had been forced to open while "under-funded" by the Victorian Government. In December 2005, Smithies joined the Cultural Development Network (CDN), an independent non-profit organisation that links individual practitioners, community organisations and government across

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, as director. About the same time, he recommenced working as an artist (painting and sculpture) with an ongoing interest in digital media and interactive

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

.LinkedIn
''John Smithies''. Retrieved 2 March 2015.

References

External links

Official LinkedIn
''John Smithies'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Smithies, John G. 1954 births Australian curators Living people Monash University alumni People from Melbourne University of Tasmania alumni