alumni news - University of Queensland

success stories
1990
Life of art
Susi Muddiman
Bachelor of Arts
Diploma in Australian Studies
Susi Muddiman is preparing for one of her
greatest career highlights as Director of the
Tweed River Art Gallery.
In a few months, building will commence
on a purpose-built Margaret Olley Centre at
the gallery in Murwillumbah, northeast NSW,
where Ms Olley spent part of her youth.
Ms Muddiman, a UQ arts graduate, has
worked at the gallery for five years and said
she was very excited to drive the project and
see it come to fruition.
“This opportunity is a great honour for
the gallery and it is our goal to pay tribute to
Margaret’s artistic practice and generosity as
a philanthropist,” she said.
The project has been made possible
through a $1 million donation from the
Margaret Olley Trust in November last year –
following Ms Olley’s death on July 26.
“I am encouraged by the Tweed Shire
Council’s enthusiasm for this project, and
1989
their realisation that the gallery has been
offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to
recreate the home and studio of one
of the nation’s most recognised and
acknowledged artists,” Ms Muddiman
said.
“Ms Olley’s domestic surroundings
were paramount to her practice. She
worked in a multi-layered, eclectic
atmosphere which exuded an intoxicating
and endearing ambience,” she said.
The Margaret Olley Art Centre will also
be the repository of a large number of
the artist’s own works, including works in
progress, ephemera and correspondence.
The centre is expected to open in mid-2013.
Another career highlight for Ms
Muddiman was hosting the tour of the 2011
Archibald Prize, which was awarded to
Ben Quilty for his portrait of Ms Olley. The
exhibition attracted 28,563 visitors to the
gallery in 30 days.
Reminiscing on her university days, Ms
Muddiman said her UQ lecturers particularly
influenced the way she viewed art.
“I will always remember Dr Nancy
Underhill’s ‘brownie points’ system. She
wanted us to get a lot of exposure to artwork
in order for us to learn from it. We had to
provide proof that we had actually attended
an exhibition. It was really effective,” she
said.
“I feel sure it was Dr Underhill who
actually made me stand in front of artwork,
try to read it and work out what it was trying
to tell me.”
Ms Muddiman is a frequent visitor to
the UQ Art Museum and most recently
attended the exhibition, Surface
Tension: the art of Euan Macleod
1991–2009 at the end of last year,
which was a Tweed River Art
Gallery touring exhibition.
Agribusiness expert
Ben Cameron
Bachelor of Commerce
For UQ commerce alumnus Ben Cameron,
what started as a graduate program in
1991 has turned into a 20-year career with
one of Queensland’s largest accounting
firms.
Within 10 years of starting at the
Bentleys Brisbane firm as a graduate, Mr
Cameron was appointed Director and in
2011, became Managing Director.
Originally from Roma, Mr Cameron
grew up on a farm and after attending
boarding school on the Gold Coast took a
gap year to jackeroo on a property in the
Northern Territory.
He later resided at UQ’s St John’s
College for his studies.
His passion for farming has never died
and in the first few years at Bentleys, Mr
Cameron created the Bentleys agribusiness
division, which is now the most successful
area for the Brisbane office.
He has since advised hundreds of
regional and rural businesses in areas
such as beef, grain and cotton.
“My interest for agribusiness and
family business originally stems from my
background, but it is also rewarding to get
to know many of our primary producers
and their families, and help them succeed
in their businesses and future plans,” Mr
Cameron said.
Along with agribusiness, Mr Cameron
specialises in business advisory, hedge
fund management, stockbroking and
finance.
UQ – CONTACT // Winter 2012 37