In Conversation – Interior Worlds: The Art of Margaret Olley

Featuring three guest speakers: Dr Emily Gray, Curator at the Margaret Olley Art Centre and Collections Manager at Tweed Regional Art Gallery; Meg Stewart, author of Margaret Olley's biography; Jane Watters, Director, S H Ervin Gallery.

Together the panelists will discuss the incredible life and work of Margaret Olley AC, one of the National Art School's most important alum, her personality, her artistry and her contributions to Australian art.

Dr Emily Gray

Dr Emily Gray is Curator Margaret Olley Art Centre & Collection Manager at the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre (2024-present). She received a Doctor of Philosophy – Arts and Master of Art Curatorship from The University of Melbourne, and has worked across the public and private arts sectors.

Jane Watters

Jane Watters is the Director, Galleries of the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and Director, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Gadigal land (Sydney) a role that she has held since 2001. The S.H. Ervin Gallery is one of Sydney’s leading public art galleries and presents the work of Australian artists, past and present in engaging exhibitions. It held the first public gallery of Margaret Olley's work in 1994.

She knew Margaret Olley well and worked with her on several exhibitions some of which were touring. Jane is an advocate of contemporary, modern and historical Australian artists, women artists and supports the Uluru Statement of the Heart.

Meg Stewart

Meg Stewart has written both fiction and non-fiction. The daughter of artist Margaret Coen and poet Douglas Stewart, she initially trained as a documentary filmmaker and has also worked in radio and print journalism, contributing to publications including the Sydney Morning Herald and the Good Weekend magazine. Her biography of Margaret Coen, Autobiography of My Mother, was published in 1985 and Far from a Still Life: Margaret Olley in 2005 After Olley’s death in 2011, the biography was updated and an additional chapter added. In recent years Meg has curated and helped with a number of exhibitions of her mother’s art.

Image: Installation view, ‘Margaret Olley: Australian Intimiste’, National Art School Gallery, Sydney, 2026, image courtesy National Art School © the artist, photograph: Hamish McIntosh