Roy McIvor “I love my country” (detail) 2009 | Private Collection, Sydney
Our Shared Vision
The partnership between the Double R Arts Foundation and the Cairns Art Gallery that began in 2023 is unique. It is based on shared visions and goals and an enduring passion to enrich people’s lives through experiencing the power and wonderment of art.
Maljah Cathy Snow “BARRLIN – We ground” exhibition installation, Cairns Art Gallery, 2025
Shared project priority areas
Bring the best of Australian and international art to the region and take the region’s unique culture to the world.
Bring great art and artists to the region to inspire audiences, encourage critical dialogues and develop talent and ideas leadership.
Deliver outcomes of excellence for artists who live or work in, or who have cultural connection to the region, through exhibitions, acquisitions, commissions, artist-in-residencies, publications, and public engagement and professional development opportunities.
Support the professional development of art curators, writers, researchers and artworkers in the region.
“Skinship: Collection in Focus” exhibition installation, Cairns Art Gallery, 2025
Our support
Since 2023, the Double R Arts Foundation has supported local Queensland artists including Heather Koowootha, Jason Wegger, Maljah Cathy Snow, Christopher Bassi, and most recently, a collaboration of three Cairns-based artists – Barbara Dover, Julie Poulsen and Jennifer Valmadre – and Erica Muriata from the Jumbun Community, north-west of Cardwell, Far North Queensland. These artists have received financial support from the Foundation to secure studio spaces, undertake research and travel, learn new creative techniques, and embark on collaborative and mentoring projects, leading to the creation of new works for public exhibition at the Cairns Art Gallery.
The artists
2026|2027
Erica
Muriata
Photographer: Amanda Neilson
Barbara Dover, Julie Poulsen & Jennifer Valmadre
For the first time, these three established Cairns-based artists have collaborated to create new assemblages, and mixed media works for an exhibition titled “The Paradox of Things”, at the Mulgrave Building, Cairns Art Gallery Precinct, September – November 2026. The Double R Arts Foundation has provided financial support for production of an exhibition publication, and the delivery of public programs during the exhibition.
2024|2025
Maljah
Cathy Snow
Maljah Cathy Snow lives and works in Normanton. She is a self-taught artist whose works depict contemporary interpretations of her mother’s traditional stories.
Christopher
Bassi
Christopher Bassi is a Meriam and Yupungathi man with cultural ties to the Torres Strait and North Queensland. His works explore complex narratives of the histories of his family, as well as collective experiences of First Nations people in Queensland.
2023|2024
Heather
Koowootha
Heather is an established artist whose work speaks to the heart and has captured the imagination of audiences around Australia.
Jason
Wegger
Jason is an adventurous and imaginative artist who works across a range of media to explore notions of black identity in today’s contemporary world.