Greer Holmes, a producer, curator and artist who has worked with a range of arts companies and independent artists across Australia, has previously held the roles of general manager / CEO (2009-2011) and executive producer (2021) at Vitals.

She returned to the organisation in April this year as creative producer, and now becomes its eighth artistic director following the departure in March of Emma Webb, who had held the position for 14 years.

Greer Holmes has deep connections to the Port Adelaide community, with her great-grandparents, grandparents and parents all born within a 2km radius of the heritage-listed Waterside Workers Hall, which is the home of Vitalstatistix.

“In the 1960s, my mother’s high school graduation ceremonies took place in the hall and my father attended SoundVilla dances, then in the 1970s he worked at the Port Adelaide Haulage Company, which was located next door to what they called ‘Wharfie’s Hall’ (Waterside),” she says.

“Since the first time I visited Waterside, I’ve imagined the possibilities for the artists that I love to work here and to be able to share the significance of the venue and place of Yartapuulti (Port Adelaide), where I had the privilege to be raised and spend many years of my working life.”

Greer Holmes says she shares the values of Vitals, a company that was founded in 1984 by Margie Fischer, Ollie Black and Roxxy Bent with the aim of opening up more opportunities for women artists in Australia. The company continues to champion change and experimentation, presenting a program that include performances, professional development opportunities and residencies.

The new AD will work alongside executive director and co-CEO Cassie Magin, and will present her first program in 2025 – the same year the company’s four-year federal funding from Creative Australia kicks in after it was announced at the end of last year.

“My vision is for the company to reflect the arts and wider communities by making space for a variety of voices and perspectives that are structurally disadvantaged,” Greer Holmes says.

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“Vitals occupies a unique space in the arts ecology, and it’s our responsibility to make the most of our resources to celebrate, advance, contribute to, and amplify a range of causes and voices in the communities we are part of.”