About Directors

Anthony and Beverly Knight are long-time supporters of Australian artists and in particular renowned for their support of First Nations artists and their families. With strong business links to the wider community, their expertise and passion for the arts in general, has forged relationships of mutual benefit culminating in remarkable success stories.

BEVERLY KNIGHT 

Director of Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (1989-current)

Art

Beverly Knight is a founding Director of Alcaston Gallery, renowned nationally and internationally for her keen eye for artists at the emerging and formative stages of their careers. Her support of artists, in particular First Nations artists, is complemented by her astute business skills, extensive knowledge of the arts, and constant enthusiasm.

With expert knowledge across the spectrum of art media, including sculpture, printmaking, painting, photography, and drawing, combined with her curatorial expertise and support from the team of curators at Alcaston Gallery, Knight has played a critical role in the realisation of numerous important exhibitions and artists’ careers.

Alcaston Gallery has been called upon many times to contribute to major exhibitions including artist retrospectives and survey exhibitions by Australian public galleries and art institutions, as well as major museums internationally.

Dating back to the 1980s, Alcaston Gallery’s archive is an extraordinary resource documenting the knowledge, history and development of contemporary First Nations art in Australia.

Knight’s philanthropic support for artists and art institutions is widely known and highly regarded. 

Knight has a degree in Art Authentication, awarded by the University of Melbourne in 2006. Career highlights include her first exhibition at Alcaston Gallery in 1989, showcasing works by Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Ginger Riley Munduwalawala; Alcaston Gallery’s contribution of archival material and support for the 1997 Ginger Riley retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the first retrospective of a First Nations artist presented by the institution; and, in 2022–23, the landmark solo survey exhibition of Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris and Triennale Milano in Milan—a dream come true!

Beverly Knight Art + Business is an arm’s length consultancy business specialising in business projects for artists and the Agencies for Estates of Artists including the Estate of Ginger Riley and the Estate of Sally Gabori.

Sport
Beverly Knight has been a trailblazer in supporting First Nations sport, especially Australian Football League (AFL). She has been the guardian of several young First Nations boys and girls from the Northern Territory and Tiwi Islands over a long period of time, supporting their education and interest in sport.

Knight was the first woman to be elected to an AFL club board, serving as the Director of the Essendon Football Club (EFC) for 17 years, from1993 - 2010.  In 2010, Knight chaired the EFC Nomination and Governance Committee which led to the appointment of future Directors to the Board from a wide range of backgrounds for the first time in the club's 150 year history.

From 1995 to 2009, Knight was a Director of AFL SportsReady, where she oversaw the organisation’s development in training and supporting young men and women across Australia in all aspects of sports administration. Creating career pathways for AFL players during and beyond their playing careers was a key focus, as was providing education, training and employment opportunities for First Nations young people. In 2013, AFL SportsReady Pty Ltd introduced ArtsReady, an education and employment traineeship program for young people seeking careers in the arts.

In 2009, Knight became the first Essendon Football Club Director appointed a position on the Tiwi Bombers Football Club Board in Darwin, representing the Tiwi players and the communities from Bathurst and Melville Island in the Northern Territory. In 2010 she also became the Treasurer of the club. During Knight’s tenure, the Tiwi Bombers strengthened their governance and accountability while achieving a significant sporting milestone: after only five years in the NTFL, the club won the NTFL Premiership in 2012. 

Knight’s commitment to sport, particularly AFL and the Essendon Football Club, is also a family tradition. Her late grandfather, Tom Stephens, was a Director of the Essendon Football Club and served as President of both the EFC Second Eighteen and the Essendon Club.