By Emma Ballingall

Growing up on the venue’s stage before running off to join the circus, Rowenna Dunn has come full circle after being appointed West Gippsland Arts Centre manager.

After more than a decade touring the world with Cirque du Soleil, Ms Dunn returned to Warragul with her young family in late 2017 and recalled thinking, “I would love to work at the arts centre”.

That wish became a reality taking over the role of arts, culture and events manager after the retirement of the long-serving Rob Robson.

“It’s such a beautiful venue and it’s such an iconic venue that offers so many opportunities for the future,” she said.

“It just feels like I’ve come full circle.  I grew up on the stage here, gained my passion, went to explore the big world and now bring my skills back here.  I can reinvest that back into the community that I bring up my family in.”

“I’ve built a career in the arts, and I genuinely could not think of anything else I’d want to do.”

Ms Dunn praised the impact Mr Robson had as a figurehead of the local arts and culture scene, noting “I have big shoes to fill to live up to that legacy”.

After a long recruitment process, she began the role last Monday and has been excited by the energy and culture of the staff and their vision to the future. She has plans for community engagement to explore the appetite of local audiences and is keen to connect with long-serving theatre audiences but also push to engage “non-theatre people.”

Baw Baw Shire chief executive officer Mark Dupe said he was delighted by the appointment of Ms Dunn who would bring her innovative and dynamic leadership style to the West Gippsland Arts Centre.

“We are very excited about attracting someone with such a strong background in performing arts, customer service and building teams and the fact that she grew up in Warragul gives her a unique understanding of this region and the local arts community,” he said.

Rowenna spent countless hours on the arts centre stage, dancing with Carol’s Academy of Dance over many years before joining Warragul Theatre Company for its 1999 production “Jesus Christ Superstar” and 2000 production “Les Misérables”. She moved to Melbourne and studied dance for two years at Bartuccios which led to commercial work and performing with Opera Australia.

Unsure on making a career in dance, Ms Dunn accepted a casual usher position with Cirque du Soleil in Melbourne in 2001. She was surprised yet inspired when a colleague took a contract, packed up and left to tour with Cirque when it left the city.

Keen to pursue a career within the performing arts industry, Ms Dunn completed a communications degree at Monash University whilst working as an usher at the Princess, Regent and Comedy theatres.

When Cirque du Soleil returned to Melbourne, she was ready.  She worked her way up from merchandise and front of house roles to corporate hospitality and tour services before landing her dream role in public relations, all while travelling the world.

Expecting twins, Ms Dunn and her wife Alyson gave up life on the road with Cirque to settle just outside New York.  However, the reality of living far away from everyone they knew with two young children, Ella and Grayson, took its toll. Deciding between Warragul and Alyson’s hometown Las Vegas, Ms Dunn said “we chose Warragul”.

A general manager role with Best Match Recruitment in Warragul followed before moving onto marketing and partnerships role with Gippslandia. Ms Dunn believes the local positions provided vital management experience, funding application skills and people development knowledge to combine with her vast performing arts knowledge from her circus life.

Well aware of the industry impact of COVID and the flexibility and adaptability needed at this time, Ms Dunn is excited about the future of the arts centre.