Peter Walker is a visual artist, furniture designer and surfboard builder. His material of choice is timber, in all of its typologies and manipulations. Walker's creative practice is entwined with teaching and mentoring as well as developing industry-related and cultural initiatives, which highlight the importance of art and design in our society, ecology and education systems.
With a career spanning more than three decades and two continents, he has played an active role in connecting important art and design institutions between the USA and Australia. Currently he leads the University of South Australia's Master of Design program as Program Director and 2022 marks his tenth year of tenure with the institution. This follows from a decade of teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in the USA, where he became an Associate Professor and Head of Furniture and Design. In the late 1990s, Walker headed the JamFactory's Furniture Design Studio, mentoring emerging designer/makers who have gone on to enjoy significant professional success. An esteemed educator with an extending influence, Walker is the logical choice to be the first solo exhibitor of this biennial series of exhibitions, presented by JamFactory in partnership with the University of South Australia since 2015.
Lara Merrington has worked as a photographer, writer and curator for over ten years. She is passionate about investigating the intersections of art, architecture and design and is currently the Curator for Snohetta, Australasia. She has undertaken curatorial residencies in Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Germany and France and, in 2019, was an Exhibitions Team Leader at the Australia Pavilion for the 58th Venice Biennale. She has worked in curatorial positions at Shepparton Art Museum (Victoria), JamFactory (South Australia) and SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin. Lara holds a Masters of Design (Contemporary Art) from the University of South Australia (2022), a Graduate Certificate in Art History and Curatorial Studies from the University of Adelaide (2018), and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Hons.) specialising in Photography from the University of South Australia (2008).
Rosanne Somerson is a designer, professor and academic leader who has advanced art and design for decades. She is Rhode Island School of Design President Emerita and maintains a successful studio creative practice, designing and creating furniture for exhibitions and commissions. Somerson is an author and subject of many podcasts, frequently advocating for the power of creativity and making as core elements of critical thinking and development. Her works have been prominently featured in many publications, exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the globe, and represented in private, corporate and museum collections. She has received many honours including two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Crafts Educator Award, a Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts, and a Lifetime Achievement Award of Distinction from the Furniture Society.