Michael Brand - Director, Art Gallery of New South Wales

A cultural leader and art scholar, Dr Michael Brand’s significant contribution to Australian and international art, architecture and landscape spans art museums and academia as well as government, philanthropy and community sectors. Since 2012, Michael has led the most significant transformation of the Art Gallery of NSW in its 152-year history. The expansion, which opened in December 2022, has created an art museum campus on Gadigal Country overlooking Sydney Harbour with a new building designed by Pritzker prize-winning Japanese architects SANAA as its centrepiece. An art garden featuring a major Indigenous art commission will open this year, linking the new and original buildings. The expansion is the most significant cultural development to open in the city since the Sydney Opera House half a century ago and has seen unprecedented visitation in its opening months.