Meredith Lynch Underwood

Meredith Lynch Underwood leads the Australian Museum’s Cultural Collection Enhancement Project which is an NSW Government funded First Nations led ten-year major project that is digitising and actioning broad brush stroke collection enhancement programs across the Museum’s six cultural collections. These include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Collection, Aboriginal Archaeology, Pasifika Cultural Collections, World Cultures Collection, Rare Books Library, and Museum Archives.  Meredith undertakes the leadership of these programs of work in partnership with Australian Museum Collection Managers.

Meredith joined the Australian Museum after undertaking a similar role leading the project management of the Collection Digitisation Project at the Powerhouse Museum. Prior to that appointment Meredith led program strategy and logistics for Powerhouse Museum Special Collections team.

Meredith is a Collection Manager, Project Manager, Arts Administrator and People Leader with many years of experience leading world class cultural projects across digitisation, collection care, collection management, registration, conservation, collection relocation, display and exhibitions, audits and more.

In earlier work with International Conservation Services Meredith delivered countless projects for a long list of clients including National Museum Australia, Create NSW, Reserve Bank of Australia, Artbank, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, National Trust Australia NSW, City of Sydney, Brisbane City Council, Old Parliament House, Mosman Art Gallery, Department of Attorney General, Ryde Hospital, Australian Council for the Arts, and Western Sydney Local Health District.

• Diploma in Law and Collection Management, Institute of Arts & Law
• Graduate Certificate in Art Administration, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales
• Master of Visual Arts, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney
• International Programs (Fine Arts – Painting), Rhode Island School of Design, U.S.A.
• Bachelor of Visual Arts (Fine Arts) (Hons1), Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney

• ‘Cultural Collection Enhancement – Rethinking Museum Digitisation’, MuseumNext Digital Collections Summit, conference paper author presentation and live Q+A, October 22, 2024
• ‘Months of logistics, two cranes, a semi-trailer and 10 people were needed to unfurl this very special Tongan bark rug’, Julie Power in The Sydney Morning Herald, June 9, 2023
• Fauvette by University of Sydney. Sydney College of the Arts. Published Rozelle, NSW Sydney College of The Arts, 2016, ISBN 9781921558122, p54-55.
• ‘Practice based learning: Learning through doing’ in Hatched07 Discussion Papers, published by Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, 2007, ISBN- 18753 86750, p18-23.
• ‘The Interplay of Self-authored Narrative & Temporal Narrative’ in The International Journal of the Arts in Society, Volume 3, Number 5, 2009 in Melbourne Australia by Common Ground Publishing Pty Ltd, ISSN 1833-1866, p127-133.
• ‘Smart Painting 2008’ in ART(e)FACT MAGAZINE, Issue 1, Autumn 2009, p22
• ‘Artist Profile’ in Art Almanac July, 2007, p197.
• RBS Emerging Artist Award 09, exhibition catalogue published by The Royal Bank of Scotland, Sydney, 2009, p34.
• Sydney College of the Arts Book published by Sydney College of the Arts, The Visual Arts Faculty, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 2009, ISBN 978-192155804-7, p83.
• ‘Artist Milestones’ in This Art Week published by The Australian Art Collector, online resource, issue dated Tuesday, 26 January 2010.