STORY

SAM COOK  (Nyikina Nation)

A dual AU/US arts, entertainment and tech professional now Los Angeles based. Sam Cook is a cross-artform practitioner, producer, educator, arts manager and Arts leader. A retired musician, she was the Director of The Dreaming Festival and a programmer of the Woodford Folk Festival.

Arts Leader Honouree, NYC (2025), Recipient of the International woman of excellence (2020), UK Arts Council Fellowship (2007 and 2011), winner of National NAIDOC Aboriginal Youth of the Year (1999) and Broome Aboriginal Artist of the Year (1998), Sam was the founding Aboriginal columnist for Artshub and Tracker, founder of Australia’s Blak History Month, #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA, Festivillian and co-founder of Kaltja (pronounced Culture).

Cook is currently a member of the First Nations Independent Arts Alliance, Artivist Entertainment (Aloe Blacc, Quetzal, Maya Jupiter), International Association of Blacks In Dance, Australians in Music and is a co-founder of the United Stages Collective, the first Aboriginal Australian led creative ensemble in the USA and Australian Made LLC with US based Australian industry giants including Garry Gary Beers (INXS).

She is the first First Nations Australian to be appointed as a professional member of the Recording Academy® (#Grammys).