News

Chief Executive Officer, Vic Keighery, to leave Regional Arts NSW

1 August 2006

Meg Larkin, Chair of Regional Arts NSW, has announced that Victoria Keighery, Chief Executive Officer, has resigned and will take up the position of CEO of CCDNSW later this month.

Vic Keighery has been the CEO of Regional Arts NSW for six and a half years. Since 2000 she has led the organisation through massive change, from the restructure of the Arts Council of NSW to the establishment of a comprehensive Statewide network of thirteen independent Regional Arts Boards serviced by a Secretariat in Sydney; fulfilling the vision for a fully decentralised model of arts service delivery for regional and rural New South Wales.

In partnership with Arts NSW and regional and rural Local Government authorities, Vic has overseen the establishment of three new Regional Arts Boards in New South Wales (in the South East, Orana and Northern Rivers) and the incorporation of three more (in the Eastern Riverina, West Darling and Upper Hunter).

Vic has been successful in consolidating the organisation and has been a strong advocate for arts development in regional and rural New South Wales at Local, State and Federal levels.

Soon after her appointment, in 2002, Regional Arts NSW delivered the Regional Arts Australia national conference in Albury. Groundswell set new standards for regional arts conferences, and was, at that time, the largest regional arts conference ever held in Australia, bringing together 600 arts organisations, arts workers and arts practitioners in an exciting program of discussion and celebration of the arts.

In her time at Regional Arts NSW, Vic has also overseen a number of other key strategic initiatives for the organisation, including (amongst others):

A Cultural Mapping Project in Western NSW, Mapping The West (2000)
An Indigenous Cultural Development Program (2000 – 2001)
Two State conferences in partnership with CCD NSW and Museums and Galleries, NSW – culture@com.unity (2001) and INSP!RE (2005) and
The Regional Arts NSW Audience Development Program, Phase 1 (2000 – 2003) and Phase 2 (2004 – 2006).

Vic's strengths in policy development and strategic management have set Regional Arts NSW on a path to new directions to support the work of the Regional Arts Boards and their development programs for regional and rural New South Wales.

'On behalf of the Board, I thank Vic for her significant contribution to Regional Arts NSW," said Chair, Meg Larkin, "And we wish her well in her new position."