CURATORIAL EXPERTISE

Amanda's curatorial vision is driven by aesthetic quality, artistic excellence and conceptual depth. Underpinning her curatorial practice is a core belief in delivering public art that is unique, exceptional, meaningful and that contributes fresh ideas to the field. 

Renowned for developing insightful artist briefs that identify the most compelling aspects of place and opportune locations for art, Amanda also sources the best possible and most interesting artists for a project. Her skill is in identifying creative practices that translate well into the public realm, then applying the necessary expertise to guide exceptional contemporary artists through the complex public art commission process. Thirty years of public art curating, lecturing and professional tenures in London, Melbourne, San Francisco and Sydney, has enabled Amanda an impressive Australian and international network of contemporary artist alliances to draw upon for ideas. She has held positions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Anthony d'Offay Gallery in London, Anna Schwartz Gallery in Melbourne and the City of Sydney.

In total Amanda has curated over thirty permanent and semi-permanent public artworks and written over fifty public art planning documents for significant development projects such as Harbourside, Atlassian Central, Green Square Town Centre, Sydney Modern and Sydney Metro Places, collaborating with outstanding design teams including Snøhetta, Hassell, SHoP, Ingenhoven, SANAA, Architectus, Bligh Voller Nield, Bates Smart, Wardle Studio, Candalepas Associates, Johnson Pilton Walker, Chrofi, McGregor Coxall and HOK. 

Amanda provides the support required to artists, clients and development teams to exceed expectations and ensure both artist vision and client aspirations are achieved to the best of their ability. Her extensive expertise and proven success instils trust in both clients and artists to develop their practice and projects into new and ambitious territory. She provides agreements to procure artists and her experience and knowledge of the industry enables her to provide independent advice to artists and clients on budgets and the best suited teams of specialists, engineers and fabricators for an artwork. This ensures that teams are tailored to projects and is a cost effective way to ensure a high quality result. Clients include the City of Sydney, Mirvac, Dexus, Atlassian, the Art Gallery of NSW, Landcom/Sydney Metro, Place Making NSW / Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority / NSW Government, Lendlease, Toga Group, Golden Age Group, Time & Place, United Development Sydney and Hutchinson Builders.

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Amanda Sharrad is a Sydney-based freelance commissioning art curator and curatorial advisor specialising in public art.

Amanda creates and identifies opportunities that enable exceptional artists to make their best work in the public realm. She facilitates ambitious and engaging experiences of their work within the urban environment in turn augmenting the sites upon which they are housed. Focused on delivering public art that is powerful, compelling, engaging and layered with meaning, Amanda provides visionary planning and acclaimed artists for high profile development projects.

Amanda is currently the public art curator for, amongst others, Atlassian Central by SHoP/BVN for Dexus / Atlassian, the anchor of Sydney's newest tech precinct, Harbourside in Darling Harbour by Snøhetta + Hassell for Mirvac and Green Square Town Centre for the City of Sydney which includes the recently announced major permanent artwork by Tobias Rehberger.

Her curatorial portfolio of permanent public art in Sydney’s CBD includes a mesmerising twenty meter long cantilevered sculptural lighting installation by Callum Morton for the Southern Hemisphere's first Ace Hotel, a thirty meter high artwork by Maria Fernanda Cardoso for Castle Residences in Bathurst Street and an exceptional sculptural installation by Emily Floyd alongside Australia Square. She has also curated a beautiful large scale in-ground illuminated glass artwork by Kerrie Poliness for Green Square Town Centre, a billboard sized lighting artwork by Mikala Dwyer in Crown Street and a one hundred-meter long artwork by Brook Andrew alongside Sydney Harbour. Others include exceptional artworks by Hiromi Tango, Guan Wei, Barry McGee, Magda Sayeg, Rebar, Sam Songailo, Jan van der Ploeg, Lu Xinjian, Caroline Rothwell and Robyn Backen.