Raised by a family of cooks and artists in the Philippines, Mariam Ella Arcilla split her childhood between selling bread at her family bakery and helping her father mix paint in his Makati art studio. Today, Mariam is an arts and culture worker oscillating across programming, writing, editing, gallery management, marketing, and digital strategy. Her projects bring her into congregation with artists and institutions in Australia to turn radiant ideas into programs, resources, and dialogues.

Embedded in the arts sector since 2006,  Mariam has held senior roles in government departments, artist-run initiatives, museums, tech start-ups, and festivals. Currently, Mariam is the Arts Development Manager at Accessible Arts, Co-Chair of Runway Journal and a Future Leaders fellow at the Australia Council for the Arts. Prior to this, Mariam worked at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art from 2020-2023, helping to champion Asian voices and practices through engagement, communications, strategy, development, and programming. With a background in independent curating, cultural policy, and creative tech, Mariam has forged collaborations with leading arts bodies, notably Institute of Modern Art, Arts Queensland, Arts House Melbourne, HOTA, Powerhouse Museum Sydney, State Library of Qld, Museum of Brisbane, The Entree.Pinays, Miami Marketta, and THE WALLS. Mariam grew up in the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong, and immigrated to Australia in 1996. She holds a BA Hons (First Class) and BCA in Contemporary Art & Writing from Griffith University and is currently based on Gadigal land.

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