About Iain Dawson
Twenty-five years inside the art world’s decision rooms. Now I work for artists.
Gallerist. Art fair director. Regional gallery director. Grant assessor.
Most artists never see the conversations that shape their careers.
The curator weighing a proposal, the collector deciding whether to buy, the panel scoring a grant at 11pm with forty applications still to read. I've been in those rooms for a quarter of a century. I know what gets a yes, what gets passed over, and why. Identity Cultural Projects exists to put that knowledge on your side.
Galleries and art fairs
I started at the Australian Centre for Photography, then ran sales and operations for leading Sydney galleries including Olsen Gallery. I directed the Affordable Art Fairs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with more than 100 exhibitors and 15,000 visitors per event. Then I opened ID Gallery in Paddington and built a collector base from scratch.
SECCA, 2014 to 2024
I directed the South East Centre for Contemporary Art in the Bega Valley through a $3.5 million redevelopment, bushfires, a pandemic and a builder's collapse. I brought more than $1.2 million of artworks into the collection and created the $50,000 Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award. SECCA won three IMAGinE Awards.
Looking north
In 2018 I held a Museums and Galleries NSW International Fellowship at Museum MACAN in Jakarta, and I staged one of the first commercial exhibitions to take Australian artists into the Hong Kong market. My networks run across Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand.
Gerwyn Davies, Glisten, SECCA, 2024. Photo: David Rogers
Why I work with artists now
Institutions have teams. Most artists have themselves.
I set up this practice to give working artists the strategic support galleries and museums take for granted: sharper writing, smarter applications, better opportunities and a clear plan.
You make the work. I make sure the right people see it.
By the numbers
A career in figures
Accountability
In my own words
In 2024 I was convicted of misappropriating funds at SECCA. I pleaded guilty, repaid the money in full, and completed my community corrections order and counselling. You can read my full account here.
It's also why I've built this practice the way I have. I never hold, receive or manage client funds. Grants pay directly to you, and you invoice and receive every sale yourself.
Credentials
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Canberra School of Art, ANU. Member of NAVA and ICOM. Former peer assessor, Create NSW and Regional Arts NSW. Museums and Galleries NSW International Fellow, 2018.
Work with me
Ready to put twenty-five years of experience behind your practice?
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