On April 2nd NARPACA lost a dear friend, and one of the founders of our organisation, when John Lamb passed away peacefully at his home.

John was the inaugural manager at three regional Arts Centres in Queensland and the Northern Territory:  Cairns Civic Centre from 1974 to 1977, Townsville Civic Centre from 1977 to 1983, and the Darwin Performing Arts Centre from 1983 to 1987.

During his time at Townsville he was instrumental in the establishment of NARPACA and also became a member of the Confederation of Australian Performing Arts Centres, the only non-capital city Arts Centre to be given the privilege of joining this group at the time.

While in Darwin John saw the need to establish a national body incorporating capital city and regional arts centres across Australia. The opportunity arose at a Confederation of Australian Arts Centres meeting held in Darwin, where it was decided to convene a national meeting of Arts Centres. A motion was put forward at that meeting to establish APACA.

He was recognised as a life member of both NARPACA and APACA.

NARPACA would like to pay tribute to John’s work for the Performing Arts industry of Australia. He can well and truly rest assured that the work he began and delivered in his lifetime has been truly part of the bedrock that makes our Performing Arts Centres across Australia stand strong as true leaders of our communities.