Marcus Westbury (born 1974) is an Australian urbanist, festival director, TV presenter, writer and broadcaster. He is based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

where he filmed the TV series '' Not Quite Art''. for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

screened during October–November 2007. Westbury founded urban renewable project
RenewNewcastle
and late
Renew Australia

Biography

Westbury's mother Kaye Westbury was the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...

candidate for the

Division of Newcastle The Division of Newcastle is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committe ...

in 1998 when she died on the eve of the election, forcing a postponement of the vote in the city.

Arts and festivals

Between 1998 and 2002 Westbury was the founder and manager of the

This Is Not Art This Is Not Art (TiNA) is a national festival of new media and arts organized in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia each year over the October long weekend since 1998. TiNA is dedicated to the work and ideas of artistic communities not genera ...

festival in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

. Westbury was the Director of the 2004 and 2006 Next Wave Festivals under the themes of ''Unpopular Culture'' (2004) and ''Empire Games'' (2006). In 2006, Westbury was also a Director of Festival Melbourne 2006, the cultural program of the Melbourne

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

. Marcus Westbury also co-founded and was one of the directors of the

Freeplay Independent Games Festival The Freeplay Independent Games Festival is Australia's longest-running and largest independent games festival, first established in 2004. The Festival celebrates fringe artists and game makers, and highlights grassroots developers and art game ...

, Australia's largest independent computer games developers' conference. In December 2015, Westbury was appointed inaugural chief executive of the Collingwood Arts Precinct. Urban Renewal projects In 2008, Westbury founded and was creative director fo
RenewNewcastle
a project which transformed empty main street shopfronts in the city of

Newcastle, NSW Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, ...

into creative spaces for local artists and artisans, "giving a significant economic and social value back to the community". After the project's success, Westbury worked as a consultant for similar projects in other areas. In 2014, Westbury published a book on urban renewal titled ''Creating Cities''. In 2015, he founded non-profi
Renew Australia
"a national social enterprise designed to catalyse community renewal, economic development, the arts and creative industries across Australia."

Media projects

Westbury has worked across a range of media including as a commentator and producer for

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

in Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne and

ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

and has featured on a range of ABC TV series including ''Recovery'', ''Critical Mass'' and ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

''. As an occasionally published writer, Westbury is also a coauthor of the ''h2w2'' guidebook (published by the

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

) and a tongue in cheek tourism guide to Newcastle called ''Newcastle Navigator''.

Media coverage

* Oliver, Robin.
Not Quite Art
',

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

Newspaper, 15 October 2007. * Hill, Jason.
Screen Play: Not Quite Art
',

Newspaper, 2 October 2007. * Cooke, Dewi.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Newspaper, 22 December 2015.

References

External links

Marcus Westbury personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westbury, Marcus Australian businesspeople 1974 births Living people