● Meet the team
Program Artists
We have a fantastic team of program artists who are the friendly faces of our workshop and ensemble programs!
Shopfront program artists are governed by a Code of Conduct. As part of this Code of Conduct, they agree to:
Treat everyone with respect and honesty, including children, Young People, parents/guardians, staff and volunteers
Be a positive role model to children/young people
Care for the wellbeing of Young People as trusted adults in their lives
Abide by our Child Safe & Social Media Policies
Report risks of harm to Young People
● Program Artist
Meet Irelish
(She/Her)
Qualifications & Compliance:
Current NSW Working with Children Check, First Aid, Youth Mental Health First Aid, BA Performing Arts,
Workshop Specialties:
Performance Skills, Devising, Writing.
Facilitation Style:
Structured but playful, inclusive, encouraging and supportive.
Experience With:
Primary/secondary students, emerging artists, neurodiverse participants.
Access & Inclusion Approach:
Experience working with Young People who are neurodiverse, providing adaptive resources to relate task to individuals.
Workshop Experience Highlights:
Lead Facilitating drama workshops at Shopfront Arts Co-Op with participants aged 8-10 and supporting a partnership workshop with MediaLab, focusing on image editing and photoshop, at Hurstville Library with participants aged 11-14, with a diverse range of access and support needs.
Outside of facilitating, you’ll find me:
Writing, reading, auditioning, working on theatre projects with friends and relaxing with my cat.
● Program Artist
Meet Mina
(She/Her)
Qualifications & Compliance:
First Aid, Youth Mental Health First Aid, Current NSW Working with Children Check
Workshop Specialties:
Physical theatre, dance/choreography for theatre, voice and speech, improvisation, ensemble work, devising for theatre
Facilitation Style:
Play-based approach; focused on exploration, collaboration, and individual creative agency for all participants.
Experience With:
Primary/Secondary aged Young People, people who are neurodivergent, people with lived experiences of homelessness and/or mental illness, and emerging artists.
Access & Inclusion Approach:
Experience working with people with varying sensory and/or access requirements informs an adaptable approach. Every workshop can be adjusted to fit the needs of the participants, including those with light, sound, and touch sensitivities.
Workshop Experience Highlights:
Facilitated workshops for One Door Mental Health with a diverse cohort of adult participants to create a 5-minute video piece shown at the One Door Exhibition.
Outside of facilitating, you’ll find me:
Swimming at the beach, cooking up a feast, or playing DND!
● Program Artist
Meet Challito
(He/Him)
Qualifications & Compliance:
First aid, WWCC, Ad. Dip. Theatre Performance, Adv. Dip Screen Acting
Workshop Specialties:
Meisner Technique, Acting for Camera, Acting for Theatre, Devising, Writing for Stage and Screen, Improv.
Facilitation Style:
I have a youth-led focus on cultivating confidence in young people. My ideal class is one where students walk away knowing they have the capability to keep creating on their own.
Experience With:
Teaching and coaching; Secondary students, emerging artists, CaLD artists. Dramaturgy for stage and screen with professional artists.
Access & Inclusion Approach:
I run my classes by the idiom: Go fast, go alone. Go far, go together. My experiences with both neuro diverse students and students from CaLD backgrounds have helped me to create community focused classes where peers support one another. I adapt resources, outcomes, and goals on a student to student basis, based on the experience the student comes into the class with, and meeting them on the day they are having.
Workshop Experience Highlights:
Supporting multiple HSC students to band 6 IP outcomes, resulting in invitations to OnStage. Particularly cultivating confidence in those students to make strong dramatic choices for themselves and supporting where they lead their IP. Helping young and emerging artists better understand the industry, opportunities available, and potential pitfalls to avoid.
Outside of facilitating, you’ll find me:
Being a dad, writing, playing guitar, going to the beach, and cooking up something TASTY!
● Program Artist
Meet Amelia
(They/Them)
Qualifications & Compliance:
Master of Applied Theatre Studies; Bachelor of Arts (Screen Production/Theatre Studies); Advanced Diploma of Music Creation and Composition; Certificate IV in Training and Assessment; WWCC; First Aid; Youth Mental Health First Aid; TESOL
Workshop Specialties:
Filmmaking (planning, shooting, editing); Screenwriting; Electronic music creation and sound design; Stagecraft; Producing your own work
Facilitation Style:
Participant led, process focused, and supportive of creative risk-taking. I create structured yet flexible workshop environments that encourage curiosity, peer exchange, and artistic agency, while being responsive to the needs of the group.
Experience With:
Teaching and coaching; Secondary students, emerging artists, CaLD artists. Dramaturgy for stage and screen with professional artists.
Access & Inclusion Approach:
Access is deeply embedded in my facilitation approach. I design workshops with multiple entry points, flexible pacing, and adaptive resources, adjusting delivery in response to the room. prioritising clear communication, consent-based participation, and supportive environments.
Workshop Experience Highlights:
Creating work across film, installation, and ensemble performance with the young people at Shopfront. Supporting inclusive screen production and skills development for emerging filmmakers with Bus Stop Films.
Outside of facilitating, you’ll find me:
Working on projects with my collective Moon Bureau, out exploring, travelling, catching up with friends, or watching live shows and sports.
● Program Artist
Meet Jessica
(She/Her)
Qualifications & Compliance:
Bachelor of Performance, Current Working with Children and Vulnerable People Check, Current NSW Police Check, Full Class C Licence, HLTAID011 - Provide First Aid, HLTAID010 - Provide Basic Emergency Life Support, HLTAID009 - Provide Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Youth Mental Health First Aid
Workshop Specialties:
Devising, Collaborative Creation, Physical Theatre, music and rhythm based practices, Realism/scene study/Stanislavski method
Facilitation Style:
High-energy that is youth-led, where I ask my participants to be brave and try to bring out their silliness and playfulness, whilst maintaining a safe and respectful environment to learn in.
Experience With:
Experience working with ages 5 -105, Nurodiverse People, People living with Disability, Non-verbal individuals, Culturally diverse cohorts
Access & Inclusion Approach:
Moulding lesson plans to the needs of the room on the day. Using regulatory games and the zones of regulation to inform my workshops, working with reduced noise or light for differing sensory needs. non-verbal communication. Use of visual cues where needed.
Workshop Experience Highlights:
I have had the privilege of working with school-aged young people who live with disability for the last two years and have been able to witness first-hand the magic that can be created by making art together. Each week, I can see tangible progress in goals and life skills being built, all whilst moving our bodies and having fun.
Outside of facilitating, you’ll find me:
Working as a Disability support worker, auditioning for TV commercials, playing music and singing, Taking morning walks to get an oat cappuccino (extra choccy, thanks), swimming in the ocean and looking for cool buttons in the craft aisle of any
op-shop.
● Program Artist
Meet Daniel
(He/Him)
Qualifications & Compliance: First Aid, White Card, Youth Mental Health First Aid, WWCC, Certificate of Screen Acting Techniques (NIDA).
Workshop Specialties:
Drama, Film, Singing, Introduction to podcasts, Introduction to Photoshop, Visual Arts, Mural Devising, Photography.
Facilitation Style:
High-energy as a co support facilitator I like to have a structured but playful, youth-led room where we focus on getting the main target of the workshop as the focal point.
Experience With:
Young People, from 8-17, Primary/secondary students, emerging artists, neurodiverse participants, culturally diverse cohorts, regional communities, professional artists.
Access & Inclusion Approach:
Providing the right space and adapting to the surroundings of the workshop catering for all young people.
Workshop Experience Highlights:
Getting to watch Young People thrive with their creativity, facilitating workshops using cameras, and shooting films in studios such as Hurstville Library's Media Lab.
Outside of facilitating, you’ll find me:
Acting, photography, running, cooking, video games, and being outdoors.
● Program Artist
Meet Georgia
(She/Her)
Georgia Tyrril is an emerging Stage Manager and technician from Sydney’s south working on unceded land. She’s begun her career working with Shopfront Arts Co-Op on multiple productions, having come through the technical theatre program at Shopfront. She’s worked on The Lies We Were Told (Shopfront 2021 + Monkey Baa Theatre 2022), HIT RESET(2021), Never Ever (2021), ArtsLab: Body of Work (2022), Mums tell Dad Jokes Too (2022), TEEN ANGST (2022), ‘TED’ Silent Movement (2023), Stop. Drop. and Listen (2023), ArtsLab: Drifters (The Joan Theatre + 107 Projects, 2023), In Between Moments (2023), Tender (2023), ArtsLab: Collide (107 Projects 2024). Beyond Shopfront she’s worked with Purple Tape Productions on their season of TAPE OVER in Maa Ki Rasoi (KXT, 2023) and on Expiration Date (Meraki Arts Bar 2023). She’s also worked with Voices of Women on their show Embellishment (KXT 2023), and with Q Theatre on their work 30-50 Feral Hogs (2023). Recently she worked on the devised work Aurat Raj presented at Belvoir 25A (2024) and then on more Shopfront shows, When I Grow Up (2024). Georgia also facilitates workshops across multiple artforms, and ran Outside The Lines at Shopfront in ancient times as Young Leader, now she is Old Leader. Yay.
● Program Artist
Meet Sophie
(She/Her)
Qualifications & Compliance: Bachelor of Creative Arts - Theatre (Honours), Master of Arts - Intercultural Communication Studies, Mental Health First Aid, WWCC, CERT IV Arts and Cultural Administration, Intermediate Mandarin language proficiency
Workshop Specialties: Drama, Visual Art, Cartoons/Comics, Collaborative Storytelling, Premiere Pro Editing
Facilitation Style: Youth led, process-focused, structured but adaptable, sometimes gentle and calm and sometimes loud and playful
Experience With: Ages 8-17, neurodivergent Young People, Young People with disability, recent arrivals to Australia, EAL (English as an Additional Language) learners, Young People with ill mental health, LGBTQIA+ Young People.
Access & Inclusion Approach: Preparing physical resources and visual prompts as needed, setting expectations to foster safety and reliability, adapting the workshop plan for the group, warming up before moving or using our voices, allowing time for feedback
Workshop Experience Highlights: Hearing Young People tell me that I've helped them find their community; or helped them to take a risk and do something they're proud of; those are the reasons I love facilitating
Outside of facilitating, you’ll find me: Playing Dungeons and Dragons, reading fantasy and sci-fi books, and playing video games.