Artist Talk with Alison McDonald and Danish Quapoor

Artist Talk with Alison McDonald and Danish Quapoor

In partnership with Umbrella Contemporary Arts, and North Australian Festival of Arts.

Date: 4 October

Time: 10-11am

Location: The Drill Hall Studio, Townsville

Join Alison McDonald – 2025 QRAA Art for Life winner – in conversation with fellow Townsville based artist Danish Quapoor (Daniel Qualischefski) to discuss their artistic practice and process of entering the Queensland Regional Art Awards.

Danish Quapoor is a multidisciplinary artist based on Gurambilbarra / Townsville, Queensland. His practice spans mediums including textiles, ceramics and illustrative painting. His work is characterised by sparse compositions, subdued colour palettes and repetitive processes, which unify his ostensibly diverse oeuvre.

Quapoor has exhibited extensively, including recent solo exhibitions at Rockhampton Museum of Art, Artspace Mackay, Metro Arts, Firstdraft and Pinnacles Gallery (Townsville City Galleries). He was a finalist in the 2025 Queensland Regional Art Awards, with his exhibited work touring regional Queensland throughout 2026. Quapoor holds a Master of Arts and Cultural Management (University of Melbourne), a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Distinction) and a Bachelor of Creative Arts, Honours (both University of Southern Queensland / UniSQ). He was also the inaugural 2023 UniSQ School of Creative Arts Alumni Fellow, and has recently joined as a member of the Public Galleries Queensland board and the Journal of Australian Ceramics Editorial Advisory Group. Quapoor has works held in the City of Townsville and Toowoomba City Art Collections, and private collections internationally.

Alison McDonald has been creating work in Townsville, North Queensland for over 20 years. Her art sits at the junction of consumer culture and environmental concern and ranges in size from microscopic jewellery to epic sculpture or installation.

McDonald s work has been shown in national and international exhibitions, including Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Strand Ephemera s (2015 winner) and in 2025 her work won the Flying Arts Queesland Regional Arts Awards Art for Life category. Her artwork is in the collections of Royal North Shore Hospital, Visy Education Centre, Perc Tucker Gallery, TCC s-Integrated Sustainability, Catholic Education, CQ University, Energy Super, Monterey Bay Aquarium (California) and Stadiums Queensland.

McDonald completed her Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) at JCU, and a Master of Art in Public Space at RMIT. She has also been artist in residence at Aberystwyth, Wales with an Arts Qld Career Development Grant and twice to RedGate, Beijing. McDonald taught Sculpture at James Cook University and TAFE North Qld. She recently toured a solo exhibition Wanton, Wild & Unimagined to 13 galleries around Australia.