Auto Garage 2009 project, Alex Dunn (attendant), photo Ines Tartler 2009	Auto Garage 2009 project, Alex Dunn, Rob Garrett, Peter White, Julia Hyde & Rachel Vernall, photo Ines Tartler 2009	Auto Garage 2009 project, Ines Tartler (artist), © Rob Garrett 2009

Auto Garage 2009 project, Ines Tartler (artist), departure hall, Auck Int Airport, © Rob Garrett 2009	Auto Garage 2009 project, Ines Tartler with attendants Rachel Vernall & Peter White, © Rob Garrett 2009	images/ourpeople/Auto Garage 2009 project, Ines Tartler with Peter White, Trenton Garratt, Cat Auburn, Genevieve Allison, Juila Hyde, Anna Tokareva, © Rob Garrett 2009

Auto Garage 2009 project, Julia Hyde (project attendant), © Rob Garrett 2009	Auto Garage 2009 project, Ken Buscke, Rachel Vernall, Anna Tokareva, Peter White, Alex Dunn, Julia Hyde (attendants), 4 May 2009, © Rob Garrett 2009	Auto Garage 2009 project, Louise Nicholls, Ines Tartler & Ken Buscke (attendants), © Rob Garrett 2009

Bare Rock and Backbones project, Aleksandra Petrovic (artist), © Rob Garrett 2008	Bare Rock and Backbones project, Amanda Wayers (curator), Matt Dowman & Aleks Petrovic (artists), Sarah Hull (Cooper & Company), Karena Way (artist), © Rob Garrett 2008	Bare Rock and Backbones project, Matt Dowman (artist), © Rob Garrett 2008

Cat Auburn developing new work © Rob Garrett 2009	Excelsior Apartment Party Exhibition, Linda Loevoll & Sarah Graham Read (project coordinator), © Rob Garrett 2008	Excelsior Apartment Party Exhibition, Markus Bautz, Sarah Graham Read, Rob Garrett, Sophie Corban, Sharon Russell, Jamie-Lee Harding, Nan Ma, Bob van der Wal, Linden Simmons, © Rob Garrett 2008

Excelsior Apartment Party Exhibition, Rob Garrett and Tana Mitchell (Designworks) © Britomart	Excelsior Apartment Party Exhibition, Sarah Graham Read (project coordinator), © Rob Garrett 2008	Genevieve Allison (exhibition coordinator), Rob Garrett & Josephine Schlatter (artist), © Rob Garrett 2009

Joanna Langford (artist), The Whisper Lands 2009, project for Auckland Art Fair © Rob Garrett 2009	John Reynolds (artist), concept development © Rob Garrett 2008	Laura Howard, researcher

David Scholefield (installation manager), Dave Veartt (DoC) and Lucy Bucknall (artist), NZ Sculpture OnShore 2008, © Rob Garrett	David Steemson (Presenter, RadioNZ) with Christian Nicolson (artist) installing his work for NZ Sculpture OnShore 2008, © Rob Garrett	Tahi Moore (artist) installing his work at NZ Sculpture OnShore, November 2008, © Rob Garrett

Fulya Erdemci and Rob Garrett, Scape Biennial 2008, Christchurch, NZ 2	Petra Prahl, Documenta XII, Kassel, September 2007 (photo Rob Garrett)	Pontus Kyander, Cat Auburn & John Radford with Anish Kapoor's Untitled 2009, The Farm, Kaipara, 15 Feb 2009 (photo Rob Garrett)

Rob Garrett (guest speaker) with Helena & Wendy (Wellington Creative), Handmade Nation Auckland Premier, 06Aug09	Rob Garrett sitting on Untitle Me, by Taiyo Kimura, Antrepos No3, 10th Istanbul Biennial, September 2007	Arch MacDonnell (Inhouse Design) & John Reynolds (artist), Auckland 2008, photo Rob Garrett

Estella Castle (artist), Rob Garrett and Cat Auburn (artist), photo RGCFA	Iain Cheeseman and Rob Garrett installing the Pop-Up Gallery exhibition, photo RGCFA	Johan Olin & Aamu Song (COMPANY) with Rob Garrett, Auckland, Nov 2009

Les Blakebrough, Anne Ferran and Rob Garrett, Sydney, October 2009	Pop-Up Gallery team, Amelia Cimino, Diana Titova, Safia Van Der Zwan, Estella Castle, Victoria Carpenter, Imogen Shephard, Annie Hensel	Rob Garrett, Diego Carpentiero, Simone Birac, Venice, October 2009

Brendan McGorry in his studio, November 2009, photo Rob Garrett	Cat Auburn speaking to guests at Karangahape Rd 1-day exhibition, 10 Feb 2010, photo Rob Garrett	Rob Garrett & Cat Auburn with Rest Cure 2009, Karangahape Rd 1-day exhibition, 10 Feb 2010, photo Rob Garrett

Artist Johl Dwyer (rt) with Howard Dixon during installation of paintings, Britomart, photo Rob Garret	Cat Auburn, Untitled 1969 (2010) Anthony Harper Award Exhibition, COCA Gallery, photo Rob Garrett	Cheryle St Claire-Newman, Melissa Tucker, Cat Auburn & Rob Garrett, w Maverick, COCA Gallery, May 2010, photo Rob Garrett

Director – Rob Garrett

Rob Garrett has more than 30 years experience in the visual arts (as artist, educator, writer, curator, arts manager and government advisor) and has long experience especially in commissioning artist projects, and in curating and project managing public art projects and installations by a wide range of visual artists.

In 2010 Rob Garrett developed Hamilton City Council’s inaugural 10-year public art plan; and is leading Auckland City Council’s public art team during the transition to the new super city Auckland Council. Previously, in 2007, Garrett led Auckland City Council’s public art review, which established new policy and a dedicated public art team. Garrett continues to provide public art curatorial and planning advice to a range of other local government and private commissioners; and recently concluded a two-year appointment as a member of Wellington City Council’s Public Art Panel. In 2010 he is curating a public art commissioning competition for the Smales Farm Station at the Smales Farm Technology Park in Auckland. He curated “Auto Garage” 2009 by German installation artist Ines Tartler for the development company Cooper & Company – the project was the first international public art commission for the Britomart development. In 2008 he was guest curator of the biennial outdoor sculpture exhibition NZ Sculpture OnShore which raises funds for NZ Women’s Refuges and which included works by more than 100 artists; and he is again guest curator for the November 2010 exhibition. He was curator of special projects for the Auckland Art Fair 2009 for which he commissioned Joanna Langford’s most ambitious installation project “The Whisper Lands”; he was selector and judge for the 2009 Fieldays No8 Wire National Art Award; and he was curator of Sculpture in the Park 2009 at the Waitakaruru Arboretum, Waikato.

Previously he was a government-appointed member of New Zealand’s Arts Council; and subsequently became a senior manager with Creative New Zealand, the Arts Council, where he led the artist / curator selection process and was the project team leader for New Zealand’s presentation at the 2005 Venice Biennale (et al’s the fundamental practice). In 2007 he project managed Speculation, New Zealand’s unofficial presentation of 30 artists, selected by 8 curators at the 2007 Venice Biennale.

From 1999 to 2002 Garrett was Head of the Dunedin School of Art. He founded the school’s contemporary art theory programme and its international Artist Residency programme Artists at Work. Between 1993 and 2002 under Garrett’s artistic direction the residency programme included new work commissions and exhibitions and / or temporary site-specific public installations by Coco Fusco and Nao Bustamante (USA), Su Xinping (China), Su Grierson (Scotland), Ed Osborn (USA), Anne Ferran (Australia), Richard Crow (UK), Margaret Roberts (Australia), Gisela Genthner (Germany), Georganne Deen (USA), Ruth Hadlow (Australia), Adrian Hall (Australia) and Roger Palmer (Scotland). He also co-founded, with Ngai Tahu, the art school’s residency programme aimed at developing Ngai Tahu’s young visual artists.

Garrett also initiated and founded Dunedin’s Otago Festival of the Arts, a boutique arts festival for a boutique city. He trained as an artist and has a fine arts degree from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University, and a post-graduate degree in Art History from Otago University.

His passion for the arts includes frequent travel to keep up-to-date with major vents in the international contemporary art calendar and to maintain the company’s networks; regular articles and reviews on contemporary art; and collecting the works of emerging artists.

Amanda Wayers

Amanda Wayers is a curator, writer and art project manager who has worked on a number of major projects for RGCFA. She was Assistant Curator for the NZ Sculpture OnShore 2008 exhibition, and has assisted us by working alongside emerging artists to develop public artworks for Auckland, including a series of large-scale outdoor paintings in the Britomart development precinct in Auckland’s CBD. Wayers is passionate about developing new public art opportunities and facilitating world-class, internationally informed public art.

Previously Wayers had curated exhibitions for The Dowse Art Gallery, recently renamed TheNewDowse (Lower Hutt), and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Wellington), and worked as Curator and Acting Director at Lopdell House Gallery in Waitakere City (Auckland). Wayers completed her Museum Studies Masters thesis on artists’ collective et al. in early 2007.

During her time with RGCFA Wayers worked on several high-profile art projects, including our review of Auckland City Council’s public art activities, and Lux Flux, a light artwork by John Radford, commissioned by Cooper and Company for the Britomart development precinct

Building on her experiences in developing city-wide programmes of events and exhibitions in Waitakere and her consultancy work Wayers has become skilled at managing relationships between a variety of not-for-profit, charity and Council stakeholders, including Tangata Whenua. In 2005 Wayers developed Nga Maunga Toi o Matariki, an exhibition and sell-out programme of events for Matariki in Waitakere City, in partnership with Rewi Spraggon. She worked closely with the resident iwi at Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand, to develop the exhibition Settling In (2002). Wayers also coordinated the popular 2004 Portage Ceramic Awards and accompanying Auckland-wide Season of Ceramics events.

Wayers has written for Art World, Art New Zealand and Metro magazines and several exhibition catalogues. She has a Masters in Museum and Heritage Studies (with Distinction) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Art History, both from Victoria University (Wellington), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UCOL (Wanganui); and she is now working towards her PhD.

David Scholefield

David Scholefield is an expert at art installation. During 2008 he worked with us as Installation Team Leader for the installation of more than 100 sculptures on the outdoor site for the NZ Sculpture OnShore 2008 Exhibition. He is a recent repatriate, returning home to New Zealand after 20 years living and working in London; and establishing his art services company David Scholefield & Associates. He was educated in New Zealand at Auckland School of Architecture and Elam School of Fine Arts. His

In 1986 Scholefield formed a London-based production company Artcell that evolved into Grasshopperstudiolondon in early 2007. The companies provided management and production design services to arts and media organisations in London. Projects were realised in the UK, Europe and USA.

Scholefield’s principal client in London was the arts commissioning organisation Artangel. Artangel specialises in developing one-off site specific projects with UK and international artists. Locations for this work were mostly in non-art spaces, and ranged from decommissioned underground stations, a London double-decker bus, former cinemas and decaying industrial buildings, to hospitals and lighthouses. Scholefield has also co-produced media events for Channel 4 Television and worked with public relations team Bolton & Quinn for clients Tate Galleries, Norman Foster Associates, The Clore Foundation and London City Hall – projects which included the press launches for Tate Modern and Norman Foster’s Millennium Bridge.

David Scholefield worked with artists Matthew Barney, Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson, Rachel Whiteread, Steve McQueen, Scanner, William Forsythe, Douglas Gordon, Robert Wilson, Hans Peter Kuhn, Michael Clark, the Kabakovs, Neil Bartlett, John Berger, Simon McBurney, Siobhan Davies, Deborah Bull, Jem Finer, Shirin Nishat, and others. In 2001 Scholefield project managed Madrid artist Juan Munoz’s installation Double Bind, the second in the Unilever series commissioned for Tate Modern’s huge Turbine Hall.