The Western Australian arts community lost one of its most dedicated and passionate arts leaders in Georgia Malone, who died peacefully last week, surrounded by the love of family and close friends.
Malone was a tireless arts advocate and mentor to many, and her legacy will live on in the countless artists and arts workers she touched with her knowledge and support, which has undoubtedly nourished the Australian arts sector at large.
For over 30 years, Malone worked in a diverse array of arts roles, drawing on her broad skillset, which included expertise in strategic management, communications and leadership.
Most recently, Malone worked with the Minderoo Foundation in the role of Principal of the Foundation’s Arts Strategy and Artist Fund – a position that allowed her to continue working with artists to support their arts practices at a grassroots level.
Also among her recent contributions was her podcast, Here Goes Nothing, which she established in February this year, and which her family has described as “a testament to the important work she did to her final days”.
Over more than three decades in the arts, Malone also served in roles at Ten Days on the Island (as Head of Marketing and Partnerships, 2020-2021), Co3 Contemporary Dance Australia (as Marketing and Communications Manager, 2015-2017), Sydney Dance Company (as Marketing Manager, 2010-2014) and Perth Festival, where she spent multiple periods in various senior marketing, sponsorship and promotional roles between 2009 and 2020.
She also ran her own successful independent arts consultancy business, GM Consulting, from 2016 to 2023. Over the seven years of its operation GM Consulting worked with over 50 different arts organisations around the country, underlining Malone’s impact on the arts as profound and sector wide. She also served on the Board of WA family and domestic violence support service Starick for four years (2016-2020).
While Malone maintained strong arts networks across the industry at a national level, perhaps her strongest and most enduring connection was with WA contemporary arts organisation PICA (Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts).
There, Malone worked as Communications Manager from 2007 to 2010 and in General Manager and Acting Director roles from 2021 to 2023.
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PICA paid tribute to Malone on social media this week calling her a “dear friend, respected colleague and admired arts leader”, who was “no nonsense, whip smart, passionate and discerning”.
PICA’s post also described how Malone “brought her fierce intellect and dedicated arts advocacy to the lives of many”, as a mentor and teacher who positively shaped those around her. The organisation also vowed to continue championing Malone’s “courage, vision and ambition for the arts”.
Among the flood of tributes on social media, there is also an obvious sense of how deeply Malone impacted the careers of many budding young arts professionals, who have since gone on to significant roles in the arts as managers and leaders themselves.
One such arts administrator shared their recollection of being mentored by Malone as an intern at PICA in 2009 where they gained a great deal from Malone’s incredible knowledge, but also her kindness, which they said “has helped shape [their] professional path [in the arts]”.
Overwhelmingly, Malone will be remembered as an exemplary arts professional who touched the lives of so many at an individual level, while also standing passionately and steadfastly for the role of artists and arts organisations as vital engines of social, economic and creative activity to the benefit of the people and societies around them.
A memorial for Malone will be held at 3pm on Monday 5 May 2025 at the University of Western Australia’s Sunken Gardens where all are welcome. Following Malone’s wishes, people who wish to attend are encouraged to donate to their favourite arts organisation in her memory.
