Felicity (Flick) Chafer Smith and Matty Chilly are the Indigenous Arts Officers at The Torch, which offers Indigneous arts in prison and community programs across Victoria. Its focus is on the power of culture and cultural identity in the rehabilitative process of First Nations people impacted by incarceration, and Indigenous Arts Officers bring a wealth of personal and professional experience into the role.
Chilly is a proud multi-clan nations man, a descendant from the Wemba-Wemba, Neri-Neri, Yiti-Yiti, Mutti-Mutti, Wuradjuri, Yorta-Yorta, Watti-Watti, Barapa-Barapa and Gubbi Gubbi tribes. He also has ancestral ties to the Maori Iwi’s of Aotearoa New Zealand and works with The Torch’s male participants in prison as well as in community.
Chafer Smith is a Ngarrindjeri woman from South Australia who was first introduced to The Torch during a term of imprisonment at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. Upon release and reintegration, she began working as the Accounts and Operations Assistant with The Torch, then moving on to a new role as an Indigenous Arts Officer.
Both are passionate about what they do and help drive The Torch’s core mission of not only providing access to art and culture, but support an artistic career through artwork sales with 100% going back to the artists.
Here are some insights into their role, some common misconceptions and what it takes to empower others.
Indigenous Arts Officer – quick links:
How would you describe what you do?
Flick Chafer Smith:
One of the pinnacles of The Torch is to lower recidivism rates and address over representation of ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) mob in the criminal system. I work with all the women pre and post release from prison. Supporting them on their journey with cultural identity, self esteem building and creative skills through art-making and cultural reconnection.
I visit both women’s prisons in Victoria regularly, providing them with in-house created booklets for their mobs, running artistic development workshops with women still in prison. When artists are released back into community, I visit them, provide them with art supplies such as canvas, paints, raffia to weave with. I yarn with them regularly checking on their wellbeing and run Tidda’s Group which is an in-community space for my sister girls to get together to create and be connected to one another.
I also look for and support artists with opportunities such as expressions of interests, exhibition applications and grant writing. I try to inspire and encourage my sister girls to achieve their dreams and break unhealthy patterns through the healing power of art.
Matty Chilly:
As an Indigenous Arts Officer at The Torch, I help guide the creative ideas of the incarcerated mob and assist in their creative development.
To be a light for them in the darkness and help them find their way through their art.
How did you get started in your career?
FCS:
When I was serving my last prison sentence in 2018, I became a participant of The Torch program and I was also studying a Bachelor of Business with Swinburne University online. Once I was released in 2020, I was offered a position in the Finance department at The Torch as I had completed the relevant qualifications while inside.
Four years later, in 2024 I stepped into the Indigenous Arts Officer role. I have been in this role for over 12 months now and I am blessed to work a job I love and am also passionate about. I get to provide women with the same support I was given that has help me succeed, from the exact position they’re currently in now.
I have served prison time with a lot of the women I work with and getting to show them that they can be in my position is empowering to them and also me.
MC:
I lived and worked in the North-West Kulin Nation for more than 11 years working for my community back home in Mildura and Robinvale. And naturally having an appetite, desire and a dream for the arts, I hungered change and saw the advertising of my current role online and applied straight away!
And I have now been working in my role as an Indigenous Arts Officer for The Torch for more than four years!
What’s an average day or week like?
FCS:
I start my week off by visiting prisons on Mondays, which I am blessed to do because it starts my week off with a big dose of humility. I sign up any new and interested sister girls, provide the artists with any previously requested materials or resources and run a creative workshop.
I then bring any artwork collected during the visit back to the office to begin the registration process. I updated our system with all artist details, requests and engagements. I prepare any information to take in on my next visit then move my focus to in-community artists. For the rest of my week I ring around, do check-ins, visit artists in community and support with any applications or workshops.
MC:
Most of my week is having a presence at the office on 146 Elgin Street, Carlton and doing a lot of in-community calls to encourage artist engagement with the program.
And the other the part of the week involves a lot of travelling to different regional locations, and going into prisons across Victoria and facilitating The Torch program with a lot of the incarcerated mob.
What’s the most common misconception about being an Indigenous Arts Officer at The Torch?
FCS:
That you need to be a highly qualified scholar to work in this organisation. I have lived experience of incarceration, substance abuse, mental health challenges. In the past 12 months there has been three times more engagement from women in the program than ever before.
What matters most is connection, understanding and support. If you can provide those things genuinely then you can be a great Indigenous Arts Officer.
MC:
The misconception is that an Indigenous Arts Officer has to do everything but we don’t, we have a big team at The Torch with different departments who draw from each other’s strengths to make the magic happen.
Another misconception is that we’re just an art program for community to join but we’re not, we’re also an in-prison program to help artists develop and build upon their cultural identity and empower people to become independent artists/ business owners!
Read: So you want my arts job: Museum Curator
What does success look like?
FCS:
Seeing my women seizing the opportunities out there, through licensing, commissions, exhibitions and murals. Success is seeing our mob thrive and using art as a sustainable way to support themselves and their families.
Seeing them pass on cultural knowledge onto their children and break away from the revolving door of the criminal system. Seeing the women succeeding by reaching their goals, to buy that new car or having their first solo exhibition.
MC:
Everyday is a success knowing that I am making an impact and change within the criminal system with our mob – being the bridge from the outside world to help broaden their horizons to what they thought was not possible.
What’s the best thing happening in your field at the moment?
FCS:
I currently have a lot of women who have been released recently, and they have really stepped up with reclaiming their power through storytelling. They are creating a better life for themselves by sharing their journey with others, raising awareness and owning their hard work and persistence.
Many businesses are reaching out for our artists to run workshops for their staff, to learn more about our culture and the challenges we face. They book speaking engagements with our artists to share their journey; their skills of weaving and painting and I really appreciate the community’s willingness to learn about mob. This also creates another avenue of financial independence for our artists.
MC:
My job is the best thing happening at the moment, getting up everyday to do what I do – everything that I previously mentioned: helping build cultural identity with our incarcerated mob and catapulting them into the art world/industry; assisting in their art sales so they can have a better life upon their release into freedom – to buy their own car or their own home is the best thing!
Currently, we’re handing out 30×30 canvases to our incarcerated Torch mob for our upcoming Future Dreaming exhibition, taking the canvases to them and doing workshops around their vision of the future and what that might look like. They’ll paint these in the coming months and then we’ll display them at The Torch Gallery at 146 Elgin Street, Carlton on 24 October 2025!
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone who wants your job?
FCS:
Go for it! Go for it with authenticity. Be patient and genuine with people and their individual journey, culturally and artistically.
Be fierce in your advocacy for the artist. Share your lived experience to help create that connection and give hope to those who need it.
MC:
… listen to our mob who are incarcerated and their stories that they speak without words, and paint what the spirit remembers.
