DIPLOMAT Sarah Schmidt has been appointed to the role of director of the Canberra Museum and Gallery.
A former director of the Hamilton Gallery in Victoria, deputy director at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, director of the Post Master Gallery and director of the Ararat Gallery, she holds a doctor of philosophy in art history and several other qualifications in writing and management as well as a BA in visual arts.
Schmidt has most recently been working as manager, public diplomacy, at the Australian embassy, Beijing, but in February an embassy evacuation brought her to Canberra, where she has continued her role remotely while “thoroughly enjoying the national capital”.
In announcing Dr Schmidt’s appointment, CEO of the Cultural Facilities Corporation Harriet Elvin thanked acting director Sophie Chessell, saying: “Sophie has been filling the role very capably since the departure of former director Shane Breynard but had advised me of her intention to return to a focus on learning and community programs, which is her main professional interest.”
Schmidt is expected to commence in the director’s role in late October, with Chessell continuing to act in the position until then.
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![Teacher Vanessa Jones has been living in Higgins since 2001, and while she loves the area, she says she is “fed up” with the neglectful ACT government.
The Higgins shops have been completely abandoned, says Vanessa, preventing the opportunity for residents to have a community-centred space to socialise.
They only received bins nine months ago, she says, and requests for a water station and repairs to the bus station have gone unanswered.
“It’s very, very slow,” says Vanessa.
“I asked for the zebra crossing on Fullagar [Crescent] to be repainted, and we had to wait about six or nine months.
“That’s just such a long time… we pay a lot of rates.”
Vanessa says assistance from the government only seems to go to communities with time-rich and assertive communities, leaving places such as Higgins, where the majority of households have both adults working full-time and English may not be the first language of the family, at an automatic disadvantage.
“If you’ve got two people working, paying a mortgage, raising two or three kids, they don’t have the time,” says Vanessa.
Vanessa says the lack of attention quieter places such as Higgins is receiving is starting to look a lot like favouritism.
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