3 December 2025
MUMA’s Award-winning partnerships across Monash University
Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) has been recognised for its significant contributions to teaching, learning and research, receiving a Monash University Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence in partnership with the Faculty of Business, and the School of Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education (CTI) Award for Diversity and Inclusion within the Faculty of Education.
Award for Teaching Excellence: Artist-Led Academic Engagement with Monash Business School
Over the past two years, more than 3,000 first-year management students have taken part in the innovative, artist-led learning project within the Monash University Introduction to Management (MGF101) unit.
MUMA engaged artist Ross Coulter to work with the business school students, creating symbolic photographic portraits imagining themselves as future leaders 20 years into the future.
Grounded in arts-based pedagogy, the project encouraged students to reflect on identity, values, resilience and ethical leadership. Student feedback shows deeper engagement with purpose, strengthened creativity and confidence, and a greater sense of connection—key capabilities for future workplaces.
This partnership has become a powerful model for integrating creative practice into business education.
Congratulations to Alicia Renew (MUMA), Dr Darren Thomas Baker (Monash Business School), Dr Laura Visser (Monash Business School) and artist Ross Coulter for developing this innovative program and receiving the Faculty of Business Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
Award for Equity and Inclusion: Collaboration with the Faculty of Education
MUMA’s Education team has been delighted to partner with the Faculty of Education on the Learning with the Land with Respect (LwtLwR) Research Grant—the recipient of this year’s School of Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusion, Equity and Inclusion Award, within the Faculty of Education.
Since 2023, MUMA has partnered with the Faculty of Education and a team of First Nations creative practitioners to develop First Nations-led approaches for art education within primary and early childhood settings. The project has been embedded into a series of education units through the Art-Reach program that has extended to a local school and hundreds of enthusiastic participants.
The work of Monash Indigenous Industry Fellows (Faculty of Education) Aunty Karan Kent, Bidjara, Nikki Browne, Bidjara and Kylie Colemane, Darug and Wiradjuri has been central to the project. Aunty Karan said
“It’s been great for us to work as part of the research collective and have the opportunity as First Nations Knowledge Holders to lead the learning unlearning”.
Part of a larger international arts-based educational research initiative, Learning with the Land has been led by Professor Rita Irwin (University of British Columbia) and features nine sites of unlearning in Australia, Canada, USA and Norway. The Monash Faculty of Education-led project celebrates and centres First Nations knowledges while challenging Western-Eurocentric understandings of land and learning in the classroom.
The project’s two-year process is documented in a non-traditional research output (NTRO)—a Learning with the Land photo booklet that traces the relational process, art events, encounters, learnings and “unlearnings” that shaped the work.
In June 2025, the project team travelled to the University of British Columbia to share the Monash iteration with the international research community.
Congratulations to the Learning with the Land with Respect: Art Reach collective and partners:
Aunty Karan Kent, Bidjara; Nikki Browne, Bidjara; Kylie Colemane, Darug and Wiradjuri; Geraldine Burke (Faculty of Education, CTI), Melissa Bedford (MUMA); Priscilla Pettengell (RA); and the Pitcha Makin Fellas Artist Collective — Ted Laxton (Gunditjmara), Alison McRae (Dja Dja Wurrung, Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta), Trudy Fatnowna Edgeley (Gimuy Walubarra Yidinji) — in collaboration with Dandenong Primary School: Daniel Riley (Principal), Keery Gibson (Community Hub Leader) and Sara Djakovic (Art/Teacher).
Artists at MUMA’s Core
These awards highlight MUMA’s ongoing commitment to artist-led learning, cross-disciplinary collaboration and research that strengthens relationships between creative practice, community and education.
The impact of these programs contributes to the broader Monash University experience—supporting tertiary students to imagine their future selves as leaders, and enabling educators, primary and secondary students to engage meaningfully with First Nations ways of knowing.
Images:
1. Ross Coulter, Future Selves: Portraits with Ross Coulter 2024. Installation view, Monash University Museum of Art, Naarm/Melbourne.
2. Alicia Renew (MUMA) and Dr Darren Thomas Baker with the Dean’s Award
3. Monash Faculty of Education, Indigenous Industry Fellows Karan Kent, Kylie Colemane, Nikki Browne.
4. Learning with the Land project team and special guests with Dandenong Primary School 2024 student leaders. (left to right) Lead Art Teacher Sara Djakovic, Professor Rita Irwin, Art Technician Melanie Attard, Research Assistant Priscilla Pettengell, Community Hub Leader Keery Gibson, Project Lead Dr Geraldine Burke, MUMA Senior Educator Melissa Bedford, Federal MP Hon Julian Hill, Principal Daniel Riley, First Nations Lead Nikki Browne, First Nations Educator Kursty Colemane, Studiolab Manager and Graphic Designer Chris Hanger, First Nations Lead Kylie Colemane and First Nations Lead Aunty Karan Kent with the Student Leaders. Photographer: Yanni