Collingwood Yards is a not for profit arts precinct and charity.
The public space is home to artists, galleries, cultural organisations, restaurants, bars, retail stores, and offices. Over 350 artists and arts workers make up the creative community, including 12 resident artists and 20 cultural organisations.
Collingwood Yards is an incubator for Victoria’s creative community. The unique self-sustaining model uses commercial space rent and venue hire to subsidise affordable spaces for artists and cultural organisations.
Collingwood Yards presents hundreds of public events every year including art exhibitions, markets, live music, and more.
The site was originally built in 1913 as the Collingwood Technical School, a hub of technical, art, and design education for over 100 years. The school provided significant social outcomes for the community including educating returned servicemen and post-war migrants.
The precinct is also home to the Keith Haring Mural, the artist’s only remaining large-scale public artwork in Australia. Painted in 1984, Haring played hip hop music on his boom box and spoke and danced with pupils from the school. Collingwood Yards conserves the heritage-listed artwork and continues Haring’s ethos of “art for everyone” through arts programming and community events.
The site has long served as an important hub for the community. In 1912, Collingwood Technical School opened in former civic buildings on Johnston Street. As student numbers grew, a purpose-built school building opened facing Perry Street in 1924. The distinctive Art Deco-style administration building on Johnston Street followed in 1938.
The school played an important role in supporting the community through periods of change. During World War I, it provided training for returned servicemen, helping develop skills for employment. During World War II, the school contributed directly to the war effort through manufacturing equipment and training military personnel.
Enrolments began to decline during the 1980s and the school closed at the end of 1987, with various TAFE education departments continuing to operate at the site until 2005.
In 1984, Keith Haring spent three weeks in Australia on the invitation of the newly established Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA). Haring was commissioned to paint temporary installations at the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Moomba Festival. During the final days of his visit, Haring spontaneously took on an unofficial project – painting a mural at Collingwood Technical School. With little notice, the students prepared the wall the day before. The documentary Keith Haring in Australia, which includes footage of him painting the mural, can be viewed here.
Deterioration of the wall occurred and the mural faded badly. Given the mural’s exposure to the elements, the question arose whether the artist would have accepted deterioration or condoned restoration – as the Haring Foundation noted the artist left no clear instructions.
In 2004, the Keith Haring Mural was added to the Victorian Heritage Register, with the artwork described as “an important part of Victorian and Australian artistic heritage and deserving the best possible care.”
In 2013 after a significant public campaign, conservators, heritage groups, and experts in paint technology agreed on a way to conserve the mural. The documentary Keith Haring Uncovered, which followed the process, can be viewed here.
In recognition of the site’s long cultural and artistic history, the Victorian Government transferred ownership of the former school site to not for profit organisation Contemporary Arts Precincts Ltd in 2018. Following a major redevelopment led by architects Fieldwork, Collingwood Yards welcomed its first tenants in 2020 and officially opened in 2021.
Now, Collingwood Yards is at full capacity, with over 350 creative workers from 50 resident organisations. The precinct is a significant hub for art, design, and community-focused programming, hosting over 1,000 events annually including as part of Melbourne Design Week, Open House Melbourne, Melbourne Fringe, and more.
The precinct is managed by a small but mighty team of eight staff members, overseen by a volunteer board of directors. In 2026, the Keith Haring Steering Committee was established to guide fundraising and programming initiatives connected to the mural and Haring’s ethos of “art for everyone”.
Collingwood Yards partners with community organisations to ensure the precinct is an accessible and inclusive space for all. In collaboration with the Belgium Avenue Neighbourhood House, Collingwood Yards facilitates workshops and lunches with public housing residents.
With more support, Collingwood Yards can increase programs to engage the community in creative and cultural experiences. Learn more about how you can support the precinct here.
Team
Zoë Rinkel
CEO
Richard Stringer
Facilities Lead
Conor Barton
Strategic Communications Lead
Matt Cox
Venues & Events Lead
Rob Mackay-Clift
Operations Coordinator
Hannah Hallam-Eames
Operations Coordinator
Michael Stringer
Operations Coordinator
James Seedy
Operations Coordinator
Board
Miriam
Silva AM
Chair
Miriam has more than 25 years’ experience managing large and geographically diverse teams, across multiple industries including pharmaceuticals, banking and agribusiness and is currently Deputy Managing Director for Crescent.
Miriam has extensive Board and committee experience including: Chair for inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence, Director of AMES, and the Art Gallery of South Australia. Miriam is Patron for the International Women’s Day Committee (SA) and is the Multicultural Patron for The SA Police Training Academy.
In 2022, Miriam was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). In 2012 Miriam was named as one of Australia’s inaugural 100 Women of Influence in the Westpac and AFR Awards. Miriam is a member of the SA Women’s Honour Roll (2011) and the recipient of the 2012 Governor’s Multicultural Award for the Private Sector.
Uncle Andrew
Gardiner
Deputy Chair
Uncle Andrew is a proud Wurundjeri clansman of the Woi Wurrung people and an Aboriginal Muslim Australian. Uncle Andrew’s working life has been in the service of Indigenous communities, Indigenous community control and self-determination.
Uncle Andrew has held numerous positions across a range of organisations, most recently Dandenong and District Aborigines Co-operative (2009 – 2021 CEO), Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Corporation (2021, Traditional Owner Treaty Engagement Officer). Uncle Andrew has held numerous Board and Committee positions including, but not limited to, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Corporation (Board member, 2006, current), Victorian Aboriginal Health Centre (Board member, 2018 – 2021), Community Advisory Committee of Ambulance Victoria (Member 2016 – 2022), Bubup Wilam Child and Family Services (Board member 2021, current) and was a member of the Whittlesea Reconciliation Group (2018 – 2021).
In December 2019, Uncle Andrew was elected to the First Peoples Assembly Victoria to develop three Treaty structures with the State to represent the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people in one of the 10 reserved seats allocated for Traditional Owner groups. In June 2021 he was appointed as Co-Chair of the Interim Elders Voice Committee to support advancing Treaty with Elders.
Fatima
Chaudhry
Treasurer
Fatima Chaudhry is a qualified chartered accountant who brings over 18 years of extensive experience in finance and strategic leadership to the board. With a diverse background spanning public service, industry, and professional services, she has demonstrated her ability to drive organisational success through financial expertise and strategic insight.
Throughout her career, Fatima has held key roles in prominent organisations such as Homes Victoria, National Australia Bank, and PwC Australia. Her roles have encompassed a wide range of responsibilities including business improvement, governance, financial reporting, external audit, and strategic decision-making.
Fatima is actively involved in her community and serves as a member of her children’s school advisory council. This role underscores her commitment to education and community engagement.
Ian
Horne
Director
After becoming a certified Accountant in New Zealand, Ian’s professional career spanned a diverse array of finance and business management positions in numerous industries and across several countries.
During the two decades leading up to his retirement in 2015, Ian directed his career towards positions within non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and welfare entities. These roles included working with Hanover Welfare Services, an organization dedicated to assisting the homeless in Melbourne, S.N.A.I.C.C., an indigenous peak body, and The Brotherhood of St Laurence, where he served as the Business Manager in its Research and Policy Centre.
Ian was appointed the roles of Treasurer on the Board of The Centre for Muslim Wellbeing in mid-2019, and he undertook the same role for CAP in June 2022.
Michael
McMahon
Secretary
Michael McMahon is a Melbourne based lawyer and screen content producer. He was a founder and first Executive Chairman of Matchbox Pictures Pty Ltd.
Michael has held a wide range of management and legal positions as well as board appointments, including Screen Tasmania and Film Victoria. He has been director of the Arts Law Centre of Australia and the National Indigenous Advocacy Association and held academic positions at the University of South Australia and Swinburne University of Technology where he is an Adjunct Professor.
His company Big and Little Films Pty Ltd currently has several projects in development. In 2018 he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Screen Producers Australia
Dan
Hill
Director
Professor Dan Hill is Director of Melbourne School of Design, the graduate school in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne. A recognised designer and urbanist, Dan has previously held design leadership positions at various organizations, including the Swedish government’s innovation agency Vinnova in Stockholm, Arup in both London and Sydney, Fabrica in Treviso, the Finnish Innovation Fund SITRA in Helsinki, and the UK’s Future Cities Catapult and BBC in London.
Dan is also a Visiting Professor at UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Practice and a founder member of the Council on Urban Initiatives, a joint venture between UN HABITAT, LSE and UCL. Dan was one of the inaugural Design Advocates for the Mayor of London and a Trustee of Participatory City Foundation. Dan is the author of the books ‘Dark Matter & Trojan horses: A strategic design playbook’ (Strelka Press, 2012) and ‘Designing missions: Mission-oriented innovation in Sweden (Vinnova, 2022).
Natalie Truong
Director
Natalie Troung is a brand and marketing advisor and a board member for Pride Cup, an organisation working to make sport safer and more inclusive for LGBTQIA+ communities. Natalie holds an MBA and over 25 years experience building brands and driving growth at firms including EY, Mercer, ANZ, and Bank of Melbourne. A Melbourne local, she is drawn to Collingwood Yards’ ethos of “art for everyone” and the community’s contributions to the city.
Chris Karatselios
Director
Chris Karatselios has been a lawyer for over 35 years and is a Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Specialist in Commercial Law. Chris’ main areas of practice includes commercial leasing, commercial law, corporations law, and franchising law. Chris currently owns and operates Templar Morgan Lawyers. Chris has lived in Northcote for over 20 years and has immersed himself within the arts and cultural sector.
Former Board Directors
Daniel Besen Founding Chair, Esther Anatolitis, Charlotte Day, Richard Evan, Eugenia Flynn, Barb Hyman, Ross Patterson, Izzy Roberts-Orr, James Tutton
"Collingwood Yards provides an exciting convergence point for diverse creative communities of artists and organisations."
"An inspiring and exciting community to be a part of and support, dog friendly too"