For the past four-and-a-half years Cooper-Lavery has been Gallery Director of the Rockhampton Regional Gallery, where she tripled audiences, but she originally started her career at the Gold Coast City Gallery as a Curator back in 1992. She then went on to take up the position of Senior Curator at Bendigo Art Gallery, which is considered to be one of the shining examples of regional galleries in Australia.

“I began my arts career at Gold Coast City Gallery and I’ve keenly watched the Gallery’s development and progress over many years,” says Cooper-Lavery, “and to lead the gallery in Queensland’s second-biggest city is the dream of a lifetime.”  Cooper-Lavery will be working with the Arts Centre Board, Management and the City Council to drive the development of a new space and refurbishment of the current Gallery spaces. Her addition to the gallery team comes as the Gallery is getting ready to move to a new space, Riverside.

Tracy Cooper-Lavery, The new director of the Gold Coast City Gallery.

“I’m looking forward to working with the Gallery team to broaden the focus of exhibitions and programming, increase visitation through engagement and accessibility, and highlighting the Gallery’s collection,” she says. “The Gold Coast City Gallery has an incredible collection of Australian art, and coupled with the development of the Gold Coast Cultural Precinct I feel there is no better time to be part of the evolution of the Gold Coast into a destination for art and culture.”

Cooper-Lavery, who holds a Masters in Creative Arts from James Cook University as well as a post-graduate degree in Museum Studies and a Bachelor of Visual Arts, has curated numerous exhibitions on Australian and international art and was instrumental in presenting high-profile international exhibitions at Bendigo Art Gallery including The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957 (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) and Cecil Beaton: Portraits (National Portrait Gallery, London). Her projects at Rockhampton Art Gallery included the national touring exhibition Cream: Four decades of Australian art, The Prince: Michael Zavros, Dreaming of Deco: Style in the modern age and the development of Queensland’s richest art prize The Gold Award.  She was appointed President of the Regional Galleries Association of Queensland in 2014 and was recently selected as a Board Member of Museums & Galleries Queensland.

Tracy Cooper-Lavery in front of a Rupert Bunny painting at the Rockhampton Art Gallery.

Tracy Cooper-Lavery will commence as Gallery Director, Gold Coast City Art Gallery on April 4, 2016.

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