News... 2026 Studio Mentors
JamFactory’s Associates are supported by a group of highly skilled studio mentors, each bringing deep knowledge from their own practices. Across ceramics, furniture, glass and jewellery and metal, these mentors offer practical guidance, critical feedback and industry insight throughout the program.
We are excited to introduce Kirstel Coelho, Tobias Staheli, Tom Moore and Jess Dare as JamFactory’s 2026 Studio Mentors.
IMAGE: DANIEL NOONE
KIRSTEN COELHO
CERAMICS STUDIO
Kirsten Coelho works in porcelain creating forms and vessels that fuse the formal with the abstract. Her work has been influenced by the history of objects – jugs, flask, bowls, beakers –which she reiterates in meditations on material culture and social history.
Coelho’s work reflects the relationship between objects and the spaces they inhabit, with particular focus on the domestic space. Her work is driven by the intersection of domestic use and historical context — how objects can embody both the practicality of everyday life and the rich cultural narratives of the past.
I feel it is an enormous opportunity to work alongside other artists and have the chance to share in ideas and experiences. Art practice can have isolating moments and it is wonderful to be able to work within the unique community of the JamFactory.
IMAGE: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
TOBIAS STAHELI
FURNITURE STUDIO
Tobias Staheli draws on his cultural heritage and experience living in Switzerland and Australia to create timber works inspired by plant and human forms. His practice spans furniture, joinery, and sculptural pieces, with a focus on quality, detail, and client collaboration.
With over 22 years’ experience in timber furniture and joinery, he has also worked in the broader building industry and studied in the health sector, completing a Diploma of Remedial Massage. Outside the workshop, he enjoys cooking and baking, and spending time on the yoga mat—often folded into shapes he never quite planned.
I’m excited to meet the mentees and contribute to their journey by applying the insights I’ve gained from my professional experience.
IMAGE: PIPPY MOUNT
TOM MOORE
GLASS STUDIO
Tom Moore has designed and made peculiar glass characters for 35 years, hoping to imbue them with subjectivity, relatability and agency.
Tom has staged large installations at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, the Gallery Of Modern Art in Brisbane, and the Art Gallery of South Australia. Tom has been awarded major Australian prizes for glass art and his work is held in many public collections. Tom completed a practice-led PhD in at UniSA in 2019. In 2020 Tom was honoured as JamFactory ICON with a monograph and exhibition that toured 11 regional Australian galleries for 3 years.
Striving to invigorate the audience experience of glass has led Tom to embrace new technologies through collaboration with digital photographers and animators, and alongside his wife Rosie, to construct elaborate exhibition scenery akin to dreamscape dioramas.
I hope to encourage the Associates to design and make glass in novel ways that contribute to the creation of their own unique personal voice. I will support them in achieving their goals while also offering a different perspective that fosters honest and respectful discussion.
I will be happy to share technical tricks on the tools, with suggestions and demonstrations of different ways to get to intended results. Perhaps I can inspire the Associates to maintain productive momentum that includes time to play.
IMAGE: CONNOR PATTERSON
JESS DARE
JEWELLERY & METAL STUDIO
Jess Dare is a contemporary jeweller and partner of Gray Street Workshop (Established 1985), she completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Jewellery) in 2006.
Jess exhibits nationally and internationally and is represented in major national collections including Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris; The National Gallery of Australia; The National Gallery of Victoria and The Art Gallery of South Australia.
Jess has undertaken international residencies researching floral culture in Thailand (2014) and China (2015).
In 2016/17 she worked closely with Professor Richard Johnson creating a permanent memorial in Martin Place, Sydney, symbolising the sea of flowers laid by thousands of people following the December 2014 Martin Place siege.
I feel both honoured and excited to be invited to mentor this year. Throughout my time at Gray Street Workshop I have been privileged to work with many artists and have had many incredible and generous mentors who have supported, challenged, respectfully questioned and inspired me. To me, successful mentoring is an exchange—an opportunity to listen, learn, and give back. It feels truly nourishing to give back to the arts community that has shaped my career.