Maddie Hepner was born in Canberra but has also lived in the US and Canada. Photo: Maddie Hepner, Instagram.
Someone who builds sculptures from recycled cardboard and salvaged electronics. Another who made a fully functional robotic arm from recycled ocean plastics and space debris. Or an artist who submerges metal plates in waterways “impacted by human intervention”, leaving them to corrode to “emphasise the agency of water and non-human entities”.
These, and many more working across painting, sculpture, photography, video and digital media, make up “Canberra’s 30 artists to watch” – a new list compiled by local artist Maddie Hepner.
It’s a personal project, sparked by a sense that Canberra’s visual artists were being overlooked at the same time the city is pushing for global recognition as a UNESCO City of Design.
What is this list?
“Understanding Canberra’s desire for UNESCO recognition, and my utmost love and respect for the community that has shaped me into who I am, I was inspired to create a list of 30 Canberra-based visual artists and practitioners to watch,” Hepner, 28, says.
It’s not a scientific list, or arranged in any order other than alphabetically. She used her own long experience in Canberra’s arts community to make the picks.
“I have the great privilege of actually knowing quite a few. But then also, being well connected in the community, I was discussing with a few of my colleagues and people I know to get some feelers out for people I may not know.”
The list. Photo: Maddie Hepner, Instagram.
Recent graduates from the ANU School of Art and Design also featured, but the list is not age-limited.
“It’s not strictly under 30 years old,” she said.
“These are people who have recently had really good years in terms of the work that they’ve been doing, their engagement with the community, as well as my own personal views on how I see their careers unfolding.”
Why did they make the cut? Some have recently gained gallery representation. Others are experimenting with new materials or platforms. All, she said, are deeply involved in Canberra’s arts ecosystem and “really on an upward trajectory in their career”.
Narrowing it down was the hardest part.
“It was easy for me to come up with 30 people, which was such a nice thing.”
Why Canberra keeps producing artists
Hepner says Canberra’s arts scene is one of the city’s great strengths.
“The arts community here is very tight-knit,” she said.
“One of the biggest assets of Canberra is that everyone is so engaged with the arts community.”
She also cites the influence of having a local ANU School of Art and Design, where she graduated with first-class honours in 2021 and where many artists on the list studied or trained.
Hepner moved back to Canberra as a teenager after growing up partly in Canada and the United States. She says the local education system played a big role in helping her find art.
“I wouldn’t have found art and photography in the same way in the US as I did here,” she said.
“It’s a bit more customisable with the courses you can do here, and so by Year 12, I was doing triple photography – or something along those lines – which wouldn’t have been possible in the US.”
Maddie Hepner works with “photography, video, sculpture and sound”. Photo: Maddie Hepner.
A City of Design – and what’s at stake
Canberra is bidding to become a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) City of Design in 2026, which would make it only the second Australian city on the global list, alongside Geelong.
Hepner describes the title as recognition that Canberra is “a hotbed” for fostering artistic careers.
The ACT Government says the bid aims to grow Canberra’s reputation as a designed city and boost the creative economy by providing up to $600,000 in funding for projects aligned with that goal.
According to UNESCO rules, a City of Design must “acknowledge their commitment to sharing best practices, developing partnerships that promote creativity and the cultural industries, strengthening participation in cultural life and integrating culture in urban development plans”.
“I would like to think that it would aid in some sort of way,” Hepner said of her list, “just to show that Canberra is really quite an artistic city and does deserve that recognition.”
Not a one-off
The response to the list has been quick. Hepner says she has already heard it being used by curators and others looking for artists.
“I’ve already heard some rumblings around the community that it has been a useful tool,” she said.
That has her thinking beyond a single edition.
“It’s not just a one-and-done,” she said.
“There are so many incredible artists that still need recognition for the work that they’re doing, and everyone’s careers fluctuate.”
For Hepner, the list is also a way of giving back.
“I see this as something that could be an ongoing project, almost like my commitment back to the arts community in a way.”
View the full list of 30 Canberra artists to watch on Maddie Hepner’s website.
