Maynard Keynes – arguably the greatest economist of the 20th century – once wrote that “the civilizing arts … in fact use up an infinitesimal quantity of materials in relation to their importance in the national life and the comfort they can give to the individual spirit”. I was fortunate to have been Chair of the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board from 2006 until 2011, and also briefly on the Australian Business Arts Foundation Board, in 2010 and 2011.  I am currently Chair of Ten Days on the Island, Tasmania’s bi-ennial statewide multi-arts festival, and a supporter of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) Foundation, the Bell Shakespeare Company and the National Institute of Dramatic Art.