Anna Moreau chats with Gary Dufour, acting director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia (4 months)
WABN: Describe a day at work.
GD: “My day is an invigorating mix of practical actions and hypothetical possibilities, kept in balance to ensure that the gallery is stimulating visitors every day and that what we are preparing to offer the community in 2010 has been identified, negotiated, resourced and is on track.”
WABN: What is the best piece of advice you can give someone to motivate a team?
GD: “Connecting art with people in meaningful ways; when this happens it is absolutely electrifying. When you see or hear an individual or group having that eureka moment, encountering a new culture, whether that is contemporary India or Ancient Egypt, or an idea new to them that might open a whole new horizon of engagement with indigenous art.”
WABN: What has been the most challenging event in your career?
GD: “A lender withdrawing the key work of art five weeks out from the opening of a major exhibition. I drew on my relationship with the lender, our trustworthiness, and offered to collect the work in person and escort it to Perth myself. An 11-day trip, including four days in a truck crossing Australia as the painting was too large for any of the air freighters that land in Perth. What did I learn from it? Plan your work, and work well ahead, so there’s time to step out and manage a crisis, since they do occasionally arise.”
WABN: What is the main quality are you looking for within your team members?
GD: “Lateral-thinking, problem-solving finishers who thrill me with their ideas and deliver results.”
WABN: What's best measurement of your performance, and can you name a highlight in your career?
GD: “The quality of the collection you build, which remains long after you’re gone. In Perth long after I’m gone the state art collection will still have works by American artist Jackson Pollock, Western Australian Howard Taylor, South Aftican William Kentridge and many, many more to share with future generations.”
WABN: How do you deal with egos in your workplace?
GD: “I remain focused on the big picture and keep personalities in perspective.”
WABN: Is there an organisation/business model that you strive to achieve/reach? What is it?
GD: “A culture of high performance based around transparent decision making and clearly articulated goals that involve staff, stretch performance, enhance resources and then celebrate both what we attempt and what we accomplish.”
WABN: What frustrates you the most about your sector and what would you do to change it?
GD: “Resourcing the community to dream big; just what is happening right now with the recently announced ‘Ignite’ package for the arts. In our case, the $10 million special acquisitions fund – together with the matching funds to be raised by the gallery and then an addition $5 million for government – will create an endowment for contemporary purchases that will transform the state art collection.”
WABN: Who is someone that you dream to work with?
GD: “German artist, Gerhard Richter.”
WABN: Have you read a good book on management/leadership that you can recommend?
GD: “I tend to read about artists; leaders from whom I learn a great deal every day, by seeking to understand what it is they do and how they muster the drive and assemble the resources to connect their ideas with people.”
WABN: Who has influenced you professionally?
GD: “Willard Holmes, former deputy director at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York”
WABN: What were you doing before your current position?
GD: “I was deputy director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia for 12 years and before that I was senior curator at the Vancouver Art Gallery for eight years.”
WABN: What is your education background?
GD: “Master of fine arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada.”