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Co-Director, AoDL
Steve Pozel has worked with leading creatives across design, architecture and visual arts over a three-decades. Before his role as CEO and Creative Director of the Australian Design Centre in Sydney he was director of The Power Plant and Mercer Union, two of Canada’s premiere centres for contemporary art. He has developed and produced major creative projects for institutions around the world including Japan’s 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, V&A Museum in London, Art Gallery of NSW, Australian Museum, Melbourne Museum and the Sydney Opera House.
Since 2016, Steve has worked as a consultant in Innovation Strategy (www.linkedin.com/in/stevepozel or www.stevepozelprojects.com), championing a human-centred design methodology in the fields of education, aged care and the environment.
In parallel, he has been exploring the intersection between creativity, innovation and mindfulness within both the educational and corporate sectors.
Steve Pozel has delivered AoDL programs for the Brisbane Arts Festival; Sydney Opera House; MCA, Sydney; Vivid Ideas, Sydney; and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney’s major public art gallery.
The AGNSW’s Art in Mind program began in 2016 when Steve developed and led sessions that explored art works through a range of mindfulness frameworks, with artwork as diverse as Rembrandt and Vermeer, 19th century landscapes, contemporary Australian Indigenous painting, Asian classical sculpture and contemporary art works from around the world.
Steve came into mindfulness through MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) training with OpenGround in Australia more than fifteen years ago. In recent years, he has undertaken teacher training through the Mindfulness Training Institute of Australasia. He regularly attends meditation retreats and studies Buddhist philosophy. He also co-developed and facilitated and the Understanding Mindfulness program at The School of Life, Sydney.
He created the Art of Deep Looking as a platform for research, experimentation and program development in 2016 and was joined by Vanessa Lansdown in 2018 as a co-director of the Art of Deep Looking.
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Co-Director, AoDL
Vanessa is a psychologist and a mindfulness facilitator trained through the Mindfulness Training Institute of Australia (MTIA).
She has delivered a variety of evidenced mindfulness-based programs including Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and the Mindful Champion program for teachers across Australia with Smiling Mind.
Vanessa is passionate about sharing mindfulness and its application when engaging with nature, art and architecture. She has delivered workshops at the Art Gallery of NSW and the Sydney Opera House.
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Chief Scientific Advisor for AoDL & ILLUME
Professor of Comparative Neuroscience, Director of The Macquarie Minds and Intelligences Initiative at Macquarie University. Andrew Barron studies the evolution of cognitive systems. His research is currently supported by awards from the Templeton World Charity Foundation, The Australian Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom. He has held fellowships from the Australian Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, The Fulbright Commission and The Royal Society of London.