Naomi Cass

Naomi Noel Cass is an Australian art curator, writer and critic, educator and administrator who has worked for most of her career in commercial, municipal and regional galleries and museums including the Jewish Museum of Australia, the Caulfield Arts Centre, and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, and for her alma mater the University of Melbourne in the University's Grainger Museum and George Paton Gallery. Government appointments Cass has held include the Department of Immigration, and Victoria's National Exhibitions Touring Support program. She lectured in visual arts at a tertiary and postgraduate levels for the universities of Melbourne and RMIT. Her long-term appointments in the latter part of her career have been as director of the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (2003-2018) where she promoted the work of young and emerging artists, and at the Castlemaine Art Museum (2019–2025) in which she advanced the exposure of Australian First Nations cultures.

Early life

Cass was born in Melbourne in 1957, the daughter of Shirley Marion (née Shulman), and Dr Moss Cass who had served on the front bench in the Gough Whitlam government as one of the world’s first environment ministers.

Training and early career

Naomi Cass became involved in music and design projects and after completing her honours degree at the University of Melbourne (1978–1982) worked as a curator and writer for exhibitions and public programs for the Jewish Museum of Australia, the Caulfield Arts Centre, and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, and contributed museum criticism for the Herald Sun.

Arts administrator

From 1984 Cass served in arts and administrative roles, first as curator of the University Gallery, University of Melbourne, while for the University's George Paton Gallery she organised three public lectures by visitors to the Sydney Biennale; Critical Issues in Postmodernism by Sarah Kent, Progress in Art, by Thomas McEvilley and Joseph Beuys by Johannes Cladders. An interview conducted by James Button with Cass in 1986 about her Melbourne University Gallery exhibition Fears and Scruples she explained it was a “cross section of art in Melbourne from 1850 to 1986” presenting old and new paintings side by side in defiance of the linear lock-step of traditional art histories, so that it could be seen how, counterintuitively, a newer work can throw light on an older;

People are frightened of art, especially contemporary art. I want people to look at this exhibition and see the connections between the past and the present. Contemporary art does not spring out of a vacuum – I want people to enjoy the comparison between the old and the new.

In 1989 Cass was the Art Museums Association of Australia conference organiser. In 1990 she was a lecturer in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, University of Melbourne for a year while directing the art dealership Deutscher Brunswick Street, then over 1992-3 coordinated the Masters Research Seminar at RMIT University while she was also Cultural Affairs Officer, External Relations, University of Melbourne (1992–1995). Cass joined the Bureau of Immigration, Multiculturalism and Population Research in the Department of Immigration as Public Affairs Officer (1995–1997).

Returning to the University of Melbourne, Cass was Cultural Development Officer from 1997 to 2001, during which time the National Gallery of Victoria made her one of the five selectors, with Edward Colless (UTas), SMH critic John McDonald, NGV curator Jason Smith, and Monash University Gallery assistant director, Zara Stanhope, for the second $100,000 Contempora5 biennial art prize. She produced two programs of contemporary art and music for the Melbourne International Festival from her work in the University's Grainger Museum; The Many Faces of Percy Grainger (1997) and Electric-Eye (1998).

In 1999 working with the Grainger Museum and mothering two young daughters, and by then experienced and well connected, Cass was then recruited for the role of Executive Officer, NETS Victoria (National Exhibitions Touring Support) 2001–2003 then went on to take arts leadership roles; for fourteen years she was Director of Melbourne's Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP), Melbourne (2003–July 2018), then Director (Renewal) at the Castlemaine Art Museum (CAM) in Central Victoria until May 2025.

Gallery director

Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP)

In 2004 Cass was appointed as Director of the CCP, and in 2005, oversaw the relocation of CCP to purpose-designed premises. Through 2009 she initiated and worked on the first National Indigenous Photographers’ Forum a major survey Inland, of the work of Simryn Gill for the Melbourne Festival.

In Camera and In Public a 2011 exhibition Cass curated that explored transgression and intrigue in ASIO de-classified photos and footage, and works by Denis Beaubois, Luc Delahaye, Cherine Fahd, Percy Grainger, Bill Henson, Sonia Leber and David Chesworth, Walid Raad, and Kohei Yoshiyuki, which was also presented as part of the Melbourne Festival, as was, in 2013, the show of Wendy Ewald's collaborations with children. Also in 2013 Cass co-curated the touring survey True Self: David Rosetzky Selected Works with Kyla McFarlane, with whom she also coordinated in 2014 The Sievers Project with Jane Brown, Cameron Clarke, Zoe Croggon, Therese Keogh, Phuong Ngo, Meredith Turnbull responding to works by Wolfgang Sievers, and on the same principle curated Crossing Paths with Vivian Maier to juxtapose the works of mid-century American Maier with contemporary Australian photography, performance, and video. Her direction of the CCP supported artists with open calls for exhibitions, and partnering with major festivals and organisations and incorporated educational experiences, research projects, and survey exhibitions for artists.

Castlemaine Art Museum interior

Castlemaine Art Museum

Cass joined Castlemaine Art Museum as Director, Renewal, just before the 2019 Castlemaine State Festival, and there focused on combining the previously separate art and museum collections in exhibits in both space and engaging with the local and First Nations communities. She developed a strateigic plan, oversaw an audit and significance assessment of CAM’s collections, upgraded the website with the inclusion of online access to newly digitised imagery of the collection. In partnership with local supporters and artists she attracted new audiences to the Museum through free public access, the Orbit exhibition series, exhibitions of local artists, and the Terrace Projections, which involved projecting commissioned works onto CAM’s heritage-listed facade nightly. The In Conversation series, included exhibitions with Janina Green (2019) and Melinda Harper (2021), in visual dialogue with CAM’s historical collections and contemporary artists. Cass departed Castlemaine Art Museum in June 2025, having secured sustainable funding for operations and for major works.

Publications

Books and chapters in books

• Renaissance references in Australian art, University Gallery, University of Melbourne, 1985, retrieved 25 May 2025
• Cass, Naomi (1987). What is this thing called science?University Gallery, The University of Melbourne 11 November–18 December 1987. University Gallery, University of Melbourne. ISBN 978-0-86839-969-0.
• Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (1991), Claiming : an installation of paintings by Stephen Bush, Melbourne, Victoria, retrieved 25 May 2025
• Cass, Naomi (1992). "Empty vessels make the most sound". Rosslynd Piggott. Powell Street Gallery.
• Cass, Naomi (1997). Material treasures: the textile collection of the Jewish Museum of Australia. Jewish Museum of Australia. ISBN 978-1-875670-12-3.
• Cass, Naomi; Victorian Music Teachers' Association (1998), Electric-eye, Victorian Music Teachers' Association, retrieved 25 May 2025
• King, Natalie, 1966-; Cass, Naomi; Jewish Museum of Australia (1998). Haimish (homely) : an exhibition of contemporary art. Jewish Museum of Australia. ISBN 978-1-875670-18-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Loder, Nicola; Cass, Naomi (1998). Nicola Loder, landscape 1-18 : 17 Feb.- 7 Mar. 98, Gallery 101, Melbourne. Gallery 101. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
• Cass, Naomi (2003). "Vizard's ark: A purposeful collection". See, Here Now: Vizard Foundation Art Collection of the 1990s (paperback ed.). Melbourne: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500284483.
• Chew, Rebecca; Cass, Naomi; Centre for Contemporary Photography (2007), Echo : sounding out contemporary photography, Centre for Contemporary Photography, retrieved 25 May 2025
• Berkowitz, Lauren; Cass, Naomi (2007). Lauren Berkowitz: cornucopia : 8-24 November 2007. Sherman Galleries. Sherman Galleries. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
• Temin, Kathy; Cass, Naomi; Ewington, Julie; Renton, Andrew, 1963-; Temin, Kathy, 1968-; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (1995). Kathy Temin : three indoor monuments. Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. ISBN 978-0-947220-41-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Gregory, Katherine Louise (2004). The Artist and the Museum: Contested Histories and Expanded Narratives in Australian Art and Museology 1975-2000 (Dissertation ed.). Melbourne, Vic.: University of Melbourne, School of Art History, Cinema, Classics and Archaeology. p. 56.
• Cass, Naomi (2005), Artnotes Victoria : Bronwyn Bancroft at the Koori Heritage Trust, retrieved 25 May 2025
• Zahalka, Anne; Palmer, Daniel; Rees, Karra; Rose, , Julie; Cass, Naomi; Centre for Contemporary Photography (2007). Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007. Centre for Contemporary Photography. ISBN 978-0-9751371-5-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Rosetzky, David; Cass, Naomi, (curator.); McFarlane, Kyla, (curator.); Centre for Contemporary Photography (Fitzroy, Vic.) (2013). True self : David Rosetzky : selected works. Centre for Contemporary Photography. ISBN 978-0-9872933-8-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Cass, Naomi, (curator.); McFarlane, Kyla, (curator.); Centre for Contemporary Photography (2014). The Sievers project : Jane Brown, Cameron Clarke, Zoe Croggon, Therese Keogh, Phuong Ngo, Meredith Turnbull, Wolfgang Sievers. Centre for Contemporary Photography. ISBN 978-0-9875976-2-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Cass, Naomi; Consandine, Cate; Garrett, Stephen; Brook, Brook; Morgan, Luke (2016). "Introduction". The wandering eye. Centre for Contemporary Photography. ISBN 978-0-9946229-0-7.
• Milne, Pippa; Cass, Naomi, (writer of foreword.); Johson, Joseph, (book designer.); Centre for Contemporary Photography, (issuing body.) (2016). CCP declares : on the social contract. Centre for Contemporary Photography. ISBN 978-0-9875976-9-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Cass, Naomi, (curator.); Centre for Contemporary Photography, (issuing body.) (2016). The documentary take : Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne Festival, 1 October - 13 November 2016 : Destiny Deacon and Virginia Fraser, Simryn Gill, Ponch Hawkes, Sonia Leber and David Chesworth, Louis Porter, Patrick Pound, Charlie Sofo and David Wadelton. Centre for Contemporary Photography. ISBN 978-0-9946229-1-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Cass, Naomi, (curator.); Milne, Pippa, (curator.); Centre for Contemporary Photography, (issuing body.) (2017). AnunorthodoxflowofimagesCentreforContemporaryPhotographyMelbourneFestival2017. Centre for Contemporary Photography. ISBN 978-0-9946229-3-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Journal articles

• Cass, Naomi (1997). "The Millionth Migrant: A Non-Issue at Melbourne's Post Master Gallery". Art and Australia. 36 (1): 52–3 – via art+australia.
• Cass, Naomi (1998). "Parallax error". Artlink. 19 (1): 53.
• Cass, Naomi (1999). "Exhibitions. Suspended breath. Refining dreams and sensibilities". Art and Australia, v. 36, no. 3 (1999). 36 (3): 336.
• Cass, Naomi (2000). "Making a Museum of Oneself: The Grainger Museum". Meanjin. 59 (2): 140–151. ISSN 0025-6293.
• Cass, Naomi (January 2003). "Cast from the heart". Craft Arts International (58): 74–76. ISSN 1038-846X.