The H.C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellows

HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellows over the years

George Dreyfus, 1967

George Dreyfus is an award-winning Australian composer. He started his career as a bassoonist and in 1953 was part of the ABC’s Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He later became a freelance composer, writing TV and film scores, his most famous being the theme for the TV show Rush. In 1992 he was made a Member for the Order of Australia for his services to music.

Don Banks, member of Synchronos with Jozef Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski

Synchronos, 1972

Synchronos was an experience in sight, sound and space, performed in 1972 by two Fellows: Jozef Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski and Don Banks. Ostoja-Kotkowski was a pioneer in engaging his art with technology. His work often aimed to combine art, sciences, engineering and the humanities. Banks was a composer who founded an electronic music studio at the Canberra School of Music in 1973 and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1980.

Robyn Davidson, 2005

Robyn Davidson is an avid explorer and a gifted writer. She is most known for her 1977 book Tracks chronicling her 1,700-mile trek across the Western Australian deserts. While training for her desert trek in Alice Springs in 1975, she also became a campaigner for Aboriginal rights. A film adaptation of Tracks was released in 2013.

Narritjin Maymuru, 1978

Born in 1914 to the Mangalili clan, Aboriginal artist Narritjin Maymuru was – along with his son Banapana – one of the first Aboriginal artists to be awarded the Fellowship. Maymuru’s life as an artist included being a performer, an advocate, a politician, a clan head, a ceremonial leader, a philosopher and an entrepreneur. Maymuru believed that art had the power to transcend cultures.

Arthur Boyd, 1971

One of the leading Australian painters of the 20th century, Arthur Boyd came from a dynastic family of architects, sculptors and painters. He was an expert on changing technique dependent on preferred style, media and location. His artwork is in galleries in Australia and internationally.

William Yang, 2007

William Yang is a renowned Australian performance artist, documentary maker and photographer. Since 1989 he has combined his images with words and music, performing monologues with slide projection. His work often explores issues of identity and is in many national collections.

Andrew Farriss, 2015

Andrew Farriss is the creative force behind iconic Australian rock band INXS, and is known for co-writing hits such as Original Sin, What You Need and Need You Tonight with INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence. Farriss has been an internationally recognised songwriter, performer, producer, and recording artist for more than 30 years.

Julie Gough, 2022

Tasmanian artist, writer and curator Dr Julie Gough, a Trawlwoolway woman, draws on her Aboriginal ancestry and her family's experiences as Tasmanian Aboriginal people to highlight untold and often conflicting histories of Australia's colonial past. Utilising the creative mediums of sound, film and sculpture, Gough's work is grounded in archival research and is deep-rooted in her connection to Country.

Creative Arts Fellows

1965
Sidney Nolan, painter
John Perceval, painter

1967
George Dreyfus, musician, composer

1969
Arthur & Corinne Cantrill, film makers
Rodney Hall, writer, musician
Christina Stead, writer

1971
Arthur Boyd, artist
Stan Ostoja-Kotkowski, mixed media artist

1972
Don Banks, musician, composer
Norma Redpath, sculptor

1973
John Hopkins, painter
Keith Looby, painter
Malcolm Williamson, composer
Judith Wright, poet

1974
Ian Macdougall, composer (jointly with Music Board of the Australia Council)

1975
Archie Brennan, weaver
Jan Senbergs, painter

1976
Bea Maddock, printmaker

1977
Don Burrows, musician, composer
Dusan Marek, painter
Tim Moorhead, ceramist
John Reid, graphic designer

1978
Margaret Benyon, holographist
Alan Gould, poet
Xavier Herbert, writer
Banapana Maymuru, painter
Narritjin Maymuru, painter
Clive Scollay, audiovisual artist
Penny Tweedie, audiovisual artist

1979
George Golla, musician
Graeme Koehne, composer
Michael Le Grand, sculptor
Michael Taylor, painter
Garth Welch, choreographer, dancer

1980
Don Asker, choreographer
Rudi Krausmann, editor of Aspect
Trevor Nickolls, painter

1981
Noel Counihan, visual artist

1983
Jean-Pierre Voos, artistic director and John Du Feu, dramaturg, International Research Theatre Group KISS

1986
Ron Robertson-Swann, sculptor

1989
Judith Clingan, composer
Martha Ansara, film maker

1991
Kate McNamara, writer

1995
Udo Sellbach, printmaker

1996
Gordon Bennett, painter
Robin Wallace-Crabbe, painter

1997
Fiona Hall, sculptor
Gary Kildea, film maker

H C Coombs Creative Arts Fellows

1998
Margaret Barbalet, writer
Kay Lawrence, artist