| ISPA 2025 New York Congress – Josephine Ridge |
 Josephine RidgeExecutive Director, Arts Josephine is Executive Director, Arts, for the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, a position she has held since May 2024. Prior to that she the Vice President of Programming for TO Live in Toronto since 2020. Josephine has spent her professional lifetime working in the arts in a career that encompasses theatre, opera, ballet, music and the visual arts. Her work has taken her from Melbourne to Sydney and now to Canada where she first moved in 2016 to be the Artistic Director of Luminato Festival, for which she curated two editions in 2017 and 2018. Her programs were conceived with the purpose of deeply connecting the festival with Toronto’s local artists and companies as well as curating a balanced program of work from around the world. Before leaving Australia, she was Artistic Director of Melbourne’s international arts festival, now known as Rising, one of Australia’s largest and most respected international arts festivals. Her earlier career was focussed on administrative and executive roles including 10 years as Executive Director for Sydney Festival, and leadership roles with The Australian Ballet, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Malthouse Theatre. This experience has given her a strong understanding of and love across all the arts and an appreciation of the interconnectedness that exists throughout artistic practice. Her belief in the vital role that the arts play in achieving an open, tolerant, thoughtful and forward-looking society governs her curatorial vision and work at all times.
Speaker Opening Ceremony and Welcome |
