The Canberra arts sector looks set for a shake-up with the news this week that artsACT director David Whitney will retire in the middle of the year.
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While no formal announcement has been made, Mr Whitney confirmed on Monday that he plans to leave his position on July 10.
The news comes in the midst of the ACT government's review of the Arts Policy Framework, which is slated for completion in June, although Mr Whitney indicated he planned to stay until the review was well and truly tabled.
Mr Whitney has been at the helm of the government's arts agency since 2007, and said the time had come to step aside and let "some new blood come in and have a look".
"I'll be turning 60 in October this year, so it's time to let someone else come in and put their mark on artsACT," he said.
Prior to artsACT, Mr Whitney was director of the Canberra Theatre.
He came to Canberra from Alice Springs, where he was director of the Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment, and before that, he held a variety of roles at the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust.
During his time at artsACT, he has overseen the development of several key arts organisations, including the Belconnen and Tuggeranong Arts Centres, the Street Theatre and Gorman House and Ainslie Arts Centres, as well as smaller organisations like Strathnairn and the Watson Arts Centre.
"These are physical things, but the physical things allow the artists to go in there and actually have a good hot go at it, so I think from a capital perspective they're important," he said.
He was also particularly proud of the delivery of former chief minister Jon Stanhope's public art program.
"It's very interesting that at the beginning of the exercise there was very strong support, but there were people who were opposed to it," he said.
"But I think that now that time has passed … the world has turned and I think that people now respect and understand what the vision was about."
Mr Whitney's retirement will leave an enticing vacancy in the arts scene, at a time when the sector is undergoing important changes and the landscape is changing fast.
"Within the arts in particular, nothing should remain the same, and within the arts, things have got to be responsive to what's going on," he said.
He said he planned to stay in Canberra after his retirement, and was looking forward to taking in Canberra's art scene and national institutions "on my own, as a complete rank consumer".
