About
Arts Eleven draws upon the extensive experience of its directors, whilst also linking to key industry professionals when required. We enjoy collaborating with and delivering projects for large corporations, local governments, community organisations and small businesses – really anyone who is interested in making art part of what they do. Our portfolio includes work with a range of diverse stakeholders, from the public health sector to festivals, galleries, artists and private clients.
Arts Eleven can be engaged to:
• Lead public art projects.
• Create arts-based documents from policies to grant applications.
• Curate multi-stakeholder creative projects.
• Transform spaces using art and bespoke creations to realise project ambitions.
• Collaborate with industry contacts in the fine art world and public art sector.
• Manage large-scale art projects and exhibitions.
Arts Eleven began as a partnership between its Director, Melanie Caple and Associate Director, Rick Rutjens. Their professional backgrounds and qualifications inform Arts Eleven’s approach to all the projects it undertakes.
ABOUT MELANIE CAPLE
Melanie graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting) from RMIT and holds a Masters of Arts Management, also from RMIT. As an artist, curator and arts manager, Melanie has worked in multiple capacities within the arts industry over the past 15 years.
After a decade working in the commercial gallery sector, Melanie established Arts Eleven to make her arts management expertise available to a wider client base. Melanie could see that many artists and institutions needed support with project management, policy development, curation, grant seeking, etc. Over the past five years she has worked with, among others, South Gippsland Shire Council, Western Health, Frankston City Council, St Vincent’s Hospital and Gippsland Art Gallery, where she managed the Victorian showing of the Archibald Prize in 2021. In 2022, Melanie was co-curator of the Fragile Earth: Extinction exhibition, also at Gippsland Art Gallery and has been a judge of the John Leslie Art Prize for two iterations.
As an artist Melanie has exhibited in various group exhibitions and has staged solo exhibitions around Melbourne and at home in Gippsland, including a major solo exhibition in 2015 at the Latrobe Regional Gallery as the recipient of the annual Dick Bishop Memorial Award. Melanie was a mural artist for Frankston’s Big Picture Festival 2021 and 2022, a mural artist for Urban Canvas Festival Melbourne in 2023 and Benalla Street Art Festival in 2024. She was finalist in the 2022 and 2019 KAAF Art Prizes, the winner of the 2016 People’s Choice Award in the Roi Art Prize, and a finalist in the 2018 Collins Place Art Prize. She was a finalist in the 2024 $40,000 Percival Portrait Prize with a portrait of Cash Savage. Over the last decade Melanie’s practice has examined our relationship with the world around us through her finely detailed oil paintings and large-scale exterior murals.
Melanie was recently engaged by Regional Rail Victoria to create works for the Big Build renovation of the Bunyip and Longwarry train stations in Baw Baw Shire Council.
ABOUT RICK RUTJENS
Rick has extensive experience writing policies and strategies, particularly in a local government context. With more than a decade working for councils, Rick has worked on countless documents in his communications-based roles. This experience, along with university qualifications in Communications and Community Development, has given Rick the skills and knowledge to craft policy and procedure documents of an excellent standard. Rick is also IAP2 certified, which means that he has the skills to effectively undertake the community and stakeholder engagement required in the consultation phase of this project.
In addition to his time in local government, Rick has also worked for the Northern Territory Government, Monash University, Acumentum Pty Ltd and was Director of Top End Arts Marketing.
Rick has completed a Bachelor of Arts at Monash University, a Graduate Diploma Communications at Monash University, a Graduate Certificate Community Development from Murdoch University and a Certificate Public Participation and Engagement - IAP2.
