Moving around the city of Brisbane the skyline and streets are already congested with a fever of development. The clock is ticking, and the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games is looming. The activity is also a reminder to check our values, to fight for legacy investments and to capitalise on opportunities – and that is exactly what artisan is doing.
At its end-of-year celebration, which also marked its 55 years, Queensland’s peak organisation of craft and design announced a major pivot this week (17 December). It is closing the doors on its current premises in Bowen Hills to a new home, placing its makers in front of thousands of visitors each day.
Reinventing artisan – quick links
artisan is rethinking what a peak organisation can be
Speaking at artisan’s end-of year celebration Unwrapped, artisan CEO Carmel Haugh said the past year had underscored the organisation’s core purpose. ‘It’s important to acknowledge that makers are at the heart of everything artisan does and stands for,’ she said.
‘That commitment isn’t changing – it’s expanding. Makers remain central to everything we do, and the next chapter is about opening unprecedented doors for makers to share their creativity and strengthen their professional futures.’
With the current funding landscape in Australia increasingly positioning small organisations in competition with one another – and often pitted directly against the very artists they exist to support – this reality has underpinned artisan’s decision to more fully embrace its role as a peak organisation for craft and design in Queensland.
What to expect in 2026 and beyond
artisan will announce the finer grain of its transition in early 2026. For now, what we know – in line with the organisation’s strategic plan for 2005 to 2028 – is that from 2026 artisan will deliver its exhibition programs in partnerships with major galleries and arts organisations across the state.
UNLEASHED, artisan’s signature biennial exhibition for emerging craft practitioners, will be presented with the Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast in August 2026. Further collaborations will be presented with PUNQ – Pop Up North Queensland Festival and Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts in Townsville, through a new dual residency-exhibition opportunity at The Japanese House in Ingham.
Read: Does a design exhibition look different when you hand your gallery over to Vogue’s style editor?
In Brisbane, artisan will work hand-in-hand with Metro Arts to present exhibitions by contemporary paper-cutting artist Elysha Rei and textile artist Selene Cochrane. artisan will also work alongside Arts Queensland to deliver a new strategic product development initiative.
Simply, they have chosen the path of strength through allyship.
Part of the plan is also to ramp up activity with designers and architects to ensure that Queensland makers are visible and at the table when shaping cultural programming in the lead up to the 2032 Olympic Games. More importantly, artisan is also working to secure legacy investment for the craft and design sector at a time when authenticity and sustainability is highly valued.
Expanding the conversation
Another cornerstone of the new-look artisan is a statewide regional arts advisory program, with the employment of new team members in order to expand support for regional makers.
In a first, artisan will also launch a new Craft and Design Sector Forum in June 2026. A major cross-sector symposium – to be known as UNLIMITED – will be held at the State Library of Queensland, drawing practitioners and visionary leaders from around the nation together. It is a strong leadership move.
Elsewhere in the country, the Australian Design Centre in Sydney – the peak organisation for craft and design in New South Wales – is facing likely closure in 2026 after more than 60 years. Sturt Gallery and Studios in NSW is also reimagining its future, calling for board members to support its new identity as an independent organisation. In this wider context, artisan is boldly expanding the bricks-and-mortar model, reshuffling the deck in thinking how to push the organisation forward.
Also planned is a refresh of its donor strategy and the reinstating of its membership, which was dissolved some years back leaving some 18,000 members disconnected. Haugh’s leadership, first on the board before moving into the CEO position this year, has already clawed back a sense of community and network. Calculated risk and trust go hand-in-hand here.
Haugh concludes: ‘We are small, mighty, and determined to thrive.’ Many small arts organisations will be watching closely. And while the new approach will inevitably require some settling into, artisan is offering a fresh, future-forward model to keep an eye on.
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The writer travelled to Brisbane as a guest of artisan.
