So you want my arts job: arts and community centre manager

Karen Ingram is kept very busy as the manager of the Louis Joel Arts & Community Centre in Melbourne.
A smiling woman, Karen Ingram, with glasses and brown hair against a blue-red backdrop that says 'so you want my arts job.'

Karen Ingram walked along many career paths before she found her most recent job as an arts and community centre manager. She performed at St Martins Youth Theatre and worked in the music industry as band manager and publicist, as well as in the comedy sector. She’s been the ‘lead instigator/ranter’ in the punk band Cranky Pants and is also a published author of a memoir: Lifting the Lid.

The Centre receives neighbourhood house funding from the Victorian Department of Disability, Families, Fairness and Housing, income from venue hire and leased spaces, as well as grants and some corporate sponsorship. We also have a range of spaces available for lease and hire.

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Thuy On is the former Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian. She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025). Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy