PGQ Board
Claire Sourgnes
Co-President
Director – Ipswich Art Gallery
Claire has over 20 years’ experience working in commercial, government and artist-run galleries in Australia and Germany across a range of positions. Claire was the inaugural Network Coordinator of the Art Gallery Network of the Moreton Bay Regional Council where she managed the Council’s three galleries and art collection across a geographically and culturally diverse area. Claire has experience in delivering diverse, quality, innovative programs which exemplify the transformative power visual art, craft and design can have in our communities. After six years as CEO of artisan, Claire is currently the Director of the Ipswich Art Gallery where she focuses on delivering innovative and diverse visual arts programs.
In all her roles, Claire has shown a commitment to enriching lives through community interaction with the arts. She is actively engaged in advocacy for the arts sector in Queensland and nationally and is the current Chair of the Australian Craft and Design Centre (ACDC) network.
Contact details:
T:
M: 0468 56 99 06
Email: claire.sourgnes@ipswichartgallery.qld.gov.au
Anna Thurgood
Co-President
State Library Queensland
Regional Content Curator
Anna has been working in visual arts for over 10 years. She was appointed to the role of Gallery Director of Artspace Mackay in 2012, where she was Director for 5 years, after having been in the role of Exhibitions Curator for 4 years prior to that. Anna brought a strong track record of curatorial leadership to her role as Gallery Director as well as a respected reputation for rethinking ways to represent collections and deliver innovative exhibitions. During her tenure visitation to the gallery increased, the number and quality of exhibitions increased, the collection has developed in new and strategic ways, and both grant and sponsorship funding has increased.
Now based in Brisbane, and working at the State Library of Queensland, Anna brings a wealth of curatorial and managerial leadership to her new role. She continues to work with regional and remote communities to bring their stories to wider audiences, and remains involved in the changing and often challenging new directions for the gallery sector, including new ways of engaging audiences with exhibitions, collections and public and education programs.
Anna is committed to the idea that art can change lives, and is passionate about making that happen. She is committed to making a difference to PGQ’s members through advocacy, professional development and industry support. Anna is an individual member of Public Galleries Queensland.
Contact details:
T: 07 3840 7909
M: 0431 871 652
Email: anna.thurgood@slq.qld.gov.au
Ashleigh Campbell
Vice President
Artistic Director/CEO NorthSite Contemporary Arts, Cairns
Ashleigh Campbell is a skilled strategic thinker, creative leader, curator/producer who hails from Jagara/Giabal Country, the Great Dividing Range township of Toowoomba.
Ashleigh trained in studio practice, majoring in visual culture/sculpture/ printmaking at USQ and holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts and a Masters in Art Curatorship from The University of Sydney,
Experienced in the formation and delivery of regional arts festivals, she’s worked in curatorial and arts management roles for local government, public galleries, art fairs, artist-run spaces and organisations including Biennale of Sydney.
She’s passionate about placemaking in regional contexts and ever-committed to forging fresh pathways, supporting and profiling Australian artists.
Following time in Sydney, Ashleigh returned to Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery and Crows Nest Art Gallery and then led Cultural Development for Western Downs Regional Council leading regional teams and managing RADF from Dogwood Crossing, Miles while working on various independent festivals including The Range, First Coat Street Art and managed Australia’s Pavilion in Venice during Fiona Hall’s Wrong Way Time, before moving north for a curatorial role at Cairns Art Gallery.
In her curatorial roles in Far North Queensland, Ashleigh has travelled and worked closely with artists and communities from Cairns, Cape York and the Torres Straits Islands to produce boundary-pushing exhibitions and key events.
Ashleigh took on the leadership of KickArts in late 2018, guiding the re-visioning of the organisation to grow into NorthSite Contemporary Arts at Bulmba-ja in 2020; a multi-arts platform that continues to support 300+ artists across Far North Queensland each year.
Contact details:
Brian Tucker
Secretary/Treasurer
Certified Public Accountant
Brian Tucker was the principal of Brian Tucker Accounting ans is now retired from day-to-day accounting and auditing.
Brian’s practice specialised in the arts and community sectors and operated on a national basis, principally in regional and remote communities, providing accounting, business, taxation and audit services.
His particular area of interest was audit in the not-for-profit sector, and audited most of the arts organisations and Aboriginal owned Art Centres in Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, and worked in communities from Patjarr in the Gibson Desert, to Balgo, south-west of Halls Creek in WA, and up to Ramingining in Arnhem Land.
In addition to his role as Treasurer of PGQ he is also Treasurer of a number of other not-for-profit entities involved in the arts in Queensland, particularly those providing support and services to young people embarking on a career in the arts. Brian continues to be actively involved in the arts sector, assisting small organisations and practitioners, emerging and established. He has also developed a new “career” as a book reviewer.
Contact details:
M: 0428 764 071
Email: brian@briantuckercpa.org
PO Box 7336
East Brisbane Q 4169
Rachel Arndt
Board Member
Rachel is an Individual Member of Public Galleries Queensland.
Rachel Arndt is the Director of Wangaratta Art Gallery in Northeast Victoria. Rachel brings over two decades of experience in the visual arts in Australia and internationally. Her commitment to regional gallery practice was cemented through a decade with Museums and Galleries of NSW, leading a comprehensive range of programs, strategic initiatives, funding opportunities, and professional development events for the gallery sector, including the largest regional touring exhibition program of contemporary art in Australia.
In early 2021, she moved to Queensland to lead The Condensery in Toogoolawah, where she implemented the gallery’s inaugural strategic vision and artistic program, including the first professionally curated suite of exhibitions. With a deep commitment to connecting artists and art with audiences, she established a new learning and engagement program focusing on children and young people, implemented a comprehensive rebrand, and embarked on a marketing strategy to build the gallery’s profile and reach.
Rachel spent four years in the UK working across exhibitions, loans, acquisitions, and collection management for the Arts Council Collection, London and Christ Church Picture Gallery, Oxford. She holds a Master of Arts Administration from UNSW and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) from the University of Sydney.
Contact details:
M: 0457 504 245
Email: r.arndt@wangaratta.vic.gov.au
Tracey Heathwood
Board Member
Artspace Mackay Gallery Director
Tracey has worked in the regional arts sector in Queensland for more than 20 years including positions with Flying Arts Inc., Artspace Mackay, Crossroad Arts Inc. and Mackay Regional Council. Her recent appointment as Director of Artspace Mackay in January 2018 sees her return to regional galleries after working as a freelance curator, project manager and arts consultant. In her role as Artspace Mackay Gallery Director, Tracey leads a team of professional gallery staff in providing a high-quality community facility; an inspirational exhibition program; a growing, relevant art collection and engaging public programs. Central to the role is the implementation and coordination of effective and efficient policies and practices relevant to the gallery and its programs, with the aim of providing the community of Mackay and visitors to the region access to high-quality arts and cultural development programs. Tracey holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Fine Art from the Queensland College of Art and is a practicing printmaker.
Tracey believes in the arts’ ability to act as a catalyst for social change. She is passionate about seeing the Queensland regional arts and cultural sector thrive and looks forward to actively contributing to the advancement of a vibrant regional arts sector through her representation on the PGQ Board.
Contact details:
T: 07 4961 9773
M: 0401 825 728
Michele Pickering
Membership Officer
Michele works for Museums & Galleries Queensland as Membership Officer to Public Galleries Queensland and the Australian Museums and Galleries Association Queensland (AMaGAQ).
Contact details:
T: 07 3059 9745 (Thu-Fri)
Email: membership@magsq.com.au