Franchesca is the Senior Curator Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia and has worked in the museum and art gallery sector for the last 30 years. She was employed in several state and national institutions throughout Australia, including the South Australia Museum, the National Museum of Australia, and the Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and more recently the National Gallery of Australia. She is a Churchill Fellow, has a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors’ in Anthropology and is a PhD candidate with the Australian National University.

Franchesca has written extensively, presented lectures and keynote addresses (national & international forums) on subjects such as the repatriation of Australian Indigenous ancestral remains, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art and Culture, and Australian Indigenous Museology and Curatorship.

Originating from Darwin, she is a Yanuwa, Larrakia, Bardi, and Wardaman woman from the ‘Top End’ region of Australia and is the Inaugural Chair of the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation since 2010.