On Friday 27 November our Girl Friday Breakfast Club speaker will be Dolla Merrillees, cultural producer, consultant and author of The Woodcutter’s Wife: A Stepmother’s Tale (2007). Join us online on Friday 27 November at 8.30am (GMT), more information and booking here.

Dolla Merrillees was formerly the Director of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) in Australia as well as having been Director of Curatorial, Collections and Exhibitions at MAAS since the beginning of 2014. Described by Professor Barney Glover, Vice Chancellor of Western Sydney University and President of the MAAS Trust as ‘an outstanding leader’ Merrillees was appointed to transform the Museum into a contemporary, experience driven, and audience centered institution and to position it on the global stage.  

Merrillees is currently undertaking a Master of Philosophy at the University of Sydney and most recently worked as Project Leader at Western Sydney University developing their decadal arts and design strategy.  Merrillees was previously Associate Director, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (SCAF) a philanthropic enterprise dedicated to providing an innovative forum for contemporary art and presenting work by internationally renowned visual practitioners primarily from Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.  Previous board and committee appointments include Sàn Art, Ho Chi Minh City; Advisory Board, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University; and the Curatorial Advisory Committee, City of Sydney.  Merrillees is one of six global emissaries and London correspondent for Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas.  She is a member of Chief Executive Women Australia and is represented by Sandra Reynolds Agency.

The Girl Friday Breakfast Club was established by Kate Reynolds and Anita Taylor to provide a friendly and informal space for women to meet and to hear from an interesting woman speaker, eat breakfast and drink great coffee or tea together at Drawing Projects UK on the last Friday of each month. We held our first online Girl Friday in October 2020 after realising we had longer to go before we could gather again for breakfast due ot lockdown. We aim to retain the informal format, and events are not recorded, so do book to join in - and do bring your own breakfast! All women, and those who identify as women, are very welcome to join the Girl Friday Breakfast Club.

Photo: David Fisher