Key People

Both the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art are administered under one act (The Queensland Art Gallery Act 1987) and have one overarching governance and management structure. The Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees is the Gallery's governing body.

Board Of Trustees

  • Professor Emeritus Ian O'Connor AC

    Chair

    Professor Emeritus Ian O’Connor AC holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland and was Vice Chancellor and President of Griffith University from 2005 to 2018. Professor O’Connor has served as Chair of the Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees since March 2017. He is a former Deputy Chair of Trade and Investment Queensland. In 2017, he was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for his contributions to Higher Education and the community.

  • Liz Pidgeon

    Deputy Chair

    Elizabeth (Liz) Pidgeon is co-founder and Director of Cornerstone Properties and a Director of the Pidgeon Group of Companies. Liz has held previous board roles with organisations including Brisbane Marketing, Wesley Research Institute, Property Industry Foundation and Surf Life Saving Foundation. She has been a Gallery Trustee since 2014 and Deputy Chair since 2020.

  • Dr Bianca Beetson

    Dr Bianca Beetson is a Gubbi Gubbi/Kabi Kabi (Sunshine Coast) Waradjuri (NSW) artist, and is Director of the Indigenous Research Unit, at Griffith University. She is also an accomplished curator and was a former member of the seminal Aboriginal artists collectives Campfire group and proppaNOW. Bianca is a member of the Artist Advisory Board at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, and a board member of Digi Youth Arts.

  • The Honourable Martin Daubney AM KC

    The Honourable Martin Daubney AM KC is Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University. He served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland from 2007 to 2021 and as President of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal from 2017 to 2021. In 2018 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the law, the judiciary, education and the community.

  • Gina Fairfax AC

    Gina Fairfax AC is a Trustee of the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and an advocate for access to arts and education in rural, regional and remote communities. Gina and her husband Tim Fairfax AC have been recognised for their significant and enduring legacy to the arts in Australia through awards including a Creative Partnerships Australia award for Philanthropy Leadership (2018) and Life Memberships of Philanthropy Australia (2021). Gina is President of the Breast and Prostate Cancer Association of Queensland.

  • Catherine Sinclair

    Catherine Sinclair is a Director of The Consultancy Bureau and has experience as a member of tribunals and boards in transport, the arts, and local government sectors. Catherine is Chair of the Gallery’s Audit and Risk Management Committee and has held previous leadership roles with organisations including the Residential Tenancies Authority, Brisbane Airport Corporation, Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland, Port of Brisbane and Brisbane Festival.

  • Paul Taylor

    Paul Taylor is the Head of Investments for Fidelity International in Australia. He is the Chair of the Dean’s Society for Business, Economics, and Law at the University of Queensland and, together with his wife Sue, played a key role in establishing the University of Queensland’s Centre for the Business and Economics of Health. Paul is an advocate for and supporter of the visual, literary and performing arts in Queensland.

Executive Management Team

Chris Saines CNZM

Director

Chris Saines has been a director, collection manager, educator and curator at leading Australian and New Zealand galleries for 40 years. Director of QAGOMA since 2013, he has overseen exhibitions by Gerhard Richter, Sally Gabori, Patricia Piccinini, Gordon Bennett and Mavis Ngallametta, and led 2021’s ‘European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York’. In this time, he has steered the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art and authored James Turrell – Night Life. He is a member of the Australia-Japan Foundation board and the Australian Government’s Creative Economy Taskforce.

  • Simon Elliott

    Deputy Director, Collection and Exhibitions

  • Tarragh Cunningham

    Assistant Director, Development and Commercial Services

  • Duane Lucas

    Assistant Director, Operations and Governance

  • Simon Wright

    Assistant Director, Learning and Public Engagement

Indigenous Advisory Panel

The Indigenous Advisory Panel provides specialist practical advice and guidance to the Director relating to QAGOMA’s programs and commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture through collection development, exhibition display and programming, increased employment opportunities, professional development and community liaison.

  • Avril Quaill

    Chair

    Avril Quaill is a Quandamooka woman whose ancestral lands are the Moreton Bay islands and Redlands Coast Region. She is Principal, Community Engagement, First Nations at the Queensland Museum Network. Avril has held senior curatorial positions with the National Gallery of Australia and the Queensland Art Gallery, and is a Founding Member of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative in Sydney. Avril’s past work includes with the Queensland Indigenous Arts Marketing and Export Agency (QIAMEA); Artistic Director of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF); and lead curator and artistic director of the Quandamooka Festival. She has served on several cultural committees including Australia’s National Cultural Heritage Committee.

  • Nancy Bamaga

    Nancy Bamaga is a Torres Strait Islander woman descending from Saibai Island. She is the Senior Managing Director of Bamaga Productions which is an Indigenous owned and operated consultancy and serves on numerous boards in the arts and community sectors.

  • Dr Bianca Beetson

    Dr Bianca Beetson is a Gubbi Gubbi/Kabi Kabi (Sunshine Coast) Waradjuri (NSW) artist, and is Director of the Indigenous Research Unit, at Griffith University. She is also an accomplished curator and was a former member of the seminal Aboriginal artists collectives Campfire group and proppaNOW. Bianca is a member of the Artist Advisory Board at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, and a board member of Digi Youth Arts.

  • Helena Gulash

    Helena Gulash is a Kabi Kabi traditional owner, advocate for Indigenous arts and culture and highly regarded for her knowledge of country and Buderim’s Indigenous living history and heritage.

  • Jyi Lawton

    Jyi Lawton is a Bidjara man from Central West Queensland and the CEO of Triple A, an Indigenous community-controlled multi-media organisation. He has undertaken tertiary study across a range of areas in Architectural Design, Law, Justice, and Business. Jyi has held previous operational and senior leadership positions across State and Federal Government and has been a former visual artist. Jyi also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Indigenous Radio Service, Karalumba, and is the founding Chairperson of the state Indigenous media peak body, Queensland First Nations Media Coalition.

  • Stephanie Parkin

    Stephanie Parkin belongs to the Quandamooka People of North Stradbroke Island. As co-Founder and Principal Solicitor of Parallax Legal, Stephanie advises a range of clients in relation to intellectual property, Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, protocols and respectful ways of engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, art, cultural expressions, knowledge and materials. Stephanie is also the Chairperson of the Indigenous Art Code, a national voluntary Code of Conduct aimed at establishing and promoting fair and ethical trade between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and those who wish to buy or licence their works.

  • Louisa Warren

    Louisa Warren is a proud Badulgal woman from the Torres Strait Islands. She has a background in community engagement, strategy and policy development and is passionate about driving sustainable outcomes in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Her experience within Indigenous affairs extends over 18 years where she has managed and delivered a range of social and economic development projects. Louisa is currently the Executive Manager of the Office of Indigenous Engagement at CSIRO and is responsible for the delivery and oversight of CSIRO’s Reconciliation Action Plan.

  • David Williams

    David Williams is a Wakka Wakka man, co-founder and Director of Gilimbaa Indigenous Creative Agency, member of the board of the Queensland Museum, and an advisor to Opera Australia.