Strong leadership, strong initiative, excellent negotiation, presentation and interpersonal skills and motivation, as well as a passion for art, are all the qualities needed to take care of a gallery’s behind-the-scenes business, and are exactly the skills the Geelong Gallery has found in newly appointed Deputy Director Development and Commercial Operations Penny Whitehead.
In a bid to evolve as a leading cultural institution within the region, this brand new role was created by the Geelong Gallery along with Director and CEO Jason Smith, with the hopes of supporting the gallery’s contribution to the life and well-being of the city, focusing on delivering meaningful, positive impact through the artistic and cultural advancement for the community, economic benefit to the region, and the provision of life-long and inclusive learning for the community.
“I will be looking after essentially the business side of the gallery, the marketing, the shop, the visitor services, developing partnerships and sponsorships, and the membership. It’s a completely new role for the gallery and it’s certainly been a role that Jason and the board have been keen to implement,” Whitehead explains.
Raised in Geelong and visiting the Gallery as a child, it wasn’t until Whitehead returned to Geelong fifteen years later and bought her children to the Gallery, that she discovered her passion for art, leading her to work at the gallery in a marketing capacity for the past 18 months. With almost two decades of experience in marketing and communications, including involvement in the campaign Love Lorne, and Lorne Festival of Performing Arts, Whitehead is now awarded the opportunity to not only expand and develop her own career, but also allow the gallery to utilise her background and skills.
“It’s really important for me to tell everyone else in Geelong that this [Gallery] is here for them, it’s here for their children, and it’s a place where everyone can just come and check out from life and just relax,” she says.
“It’s so frantic out there, but you walk into the gallery and it’s so quiet and it’s calm and someone has put so much work into that piece of art and it’s amazing to sit here and look at all of them and think about the artists head-space at the time, and what they’re trying to communicate and the different mediums they use and the different techniques they’re using and the precision that they have in their work and that rubs off on you everyday. Even when it gets busy, it still is a calming force.”
As part of the Gallery’s focus on becoming one of the best regional galleries in Australia, the Gallery already have an exciting exhibition program ahead including Fred Williams in the You Yangs, the Art Gallery of New South Wales Archibald Prize, and Kylie on Stage, which will bring an abundance of tourism into the region. While in the pipeline for a number of years, it will be Whitehead’s responsibility to market and implement these exhibitions when they arrive in terms of staffing, ticketing, funding and programming, among many other tasks.
“When we put on exhibitions, it’s not just about the art on the wall, but it’s how that art engages with people and therefore we have programs for kids, programs for adults, whether that be workshops or lectures. We always extend the exhibition beyond the walls of the gallery and that’s the main point of the gallery – to give back to the community that it’s in,” she says.
“Aside from those two ticketed events, this gallery is free everyday of the year and it’s here for the people of Geelong to come and enjoy. Essentially, you and I and all of the ratepayers of Geelong, we own all of this art on the walls and it’s a pretty special thing.”
Geelong Gallery is located 55 Little Malop St, Geelong and open everyday from 10am – 5pm.
Written by Talia Rinaldo
