He has a degree in Art and Design from Victoria College, Australia (1982), an MA in Printmaking from Tama Arts University, Tokyo (1996) . Crothers has been an invited artist and guest teacher at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, China; The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, USA; Sydney College of the Arts, Australia. Crothers was a lecturer at Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Ja-pan, from 2001 to 2005. Since 2009 he has been Curator of Asian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, and a practicing artist in Melbourne, Australia.