Gavin Wanganeen Joins State Theatre Company South Australia Board

State Theatre Company South Australia is pleased to announce that Gavin Wanganeen has been appointed to its Board.

The Australian Football League legend and acclaimed contemporary First Nations artist begins his three-year tenure at the end of March.

State Theatre Company South Australia Chair Joe Thorp said the Company was delighted to welcome Mr Wanganeen to the Board.

“Gavin is a tireless contributor to South Australia’s community, with experience spanning sport and the arts and a strong ongoing commitment to promoting young people as an advocate for empowering the state’s First Nations community. We are delighted Gavin will bring that passion and insight to the Board of the Company which is committed to promoting First Nations work and artists as a core part of its work.”

Mr Wanganeen, a descendent of the Kokatha Mula people of the Western Desert in South Australia, is a passionate supporter of the arts and known for exploring his ancestral links through his own nationally acclaimed visual art practice.

Mr Wanganeen, who is married to Pippa Wanganeen – also an avid supporter of the arts – says he plans to focus on building community links to State Theatre Company South Australia and promoting the state’s creativity and artistic excellence through his role.

“State Theatre Company South Australia represents an important part of our state’s history, and is a powerful vehicle for telling stories,” Mr Wanganeen says. “It is a great honour to have been appointed to the board, and I am looking forward to contributing to the journey ahead.”

Mr Wanganeen’s AFL career spanned 300 senior games at Port Adelaide and Essendon football clubs, earning him countless accolades including a Brownlow medal (the first Aboriginal player to do so), two Premierships and a grandstand dedication at Adelaide Oval. He again broke new ground with his appointment to the board of the Port Adelaide Football Club in 2019 – the first First Nations ex-AFL player to be elected to an AFL club board.

He joins fellow Board members Joe Thorp (Presiding Member), Amanda Anderson (William Buck COO), Alexandra Dimos (Managing Director, Nunn Family Group), Claudine Law (Wyndham Richardson Scholarship Foundation Board Director), Jodie Newton (South Australian Cricket Association General Counsel), David O’Loughlin (KWP! Chief executive) and Diané Ranck of the State Theatre Company South Australia Foundation.