Jane Burns AM

The Founding Director of the peak body for crafts in Australia, the Crafts Council of Australia, Jane Burns AM has since continued to play an integral role in establishing and supporting crafts organisations nationally. She was a founding member of the Arts Law Centre of Australia, the National Association for the Visual Arts, the National Arts Industry Training Council (now known as Create Australia), and the Australian Academy of Design. In 1988, Jane Burns was awarded the Order of Australia for her services to the crafts. She later received the Australia Council's Visual Arts/Craft Board Emeritus Medal in 1992, and became an Honorary Member of the World Crafts Council that same year.

Jane's work has had an enormous impact developing Australian craft on the world stage. She oversaw a three week tour to Australia for twenty-six collectors from the The Renwick Gallery, Washington, giving exposure to local studios, galleries and private collections, and in retirement assisted the Powerhouse Museum as a volunteer, to prepare a major exhibition of Australian craft works, which toured Japan in 1999. 

For several years, Jane wrote for the Australian Design Centre's publication Object Magazine, under the pseudonym 'Buzz Blanco'.

Australian Design Centre acknowledges Jane's extensive contribution to Australian contemporary studio craft, a tireless dedication spanning over four decades. 

Image: L-R Megan Patey, Gillian McCracken with Jane Burns. Photo Grace Cochrane.