Rebecca Coates

Rebecca Coates is an established curator, writer and lecturer. She has been the Director of Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) since 2015. Under her leadership, SAM has become recognised for a program of exhibitions that are locally relevant and engage with global contemporary ideas; for its collection strengths in ceramics and Indigenous art; and for programming designed to engage, inspire and inform its audiences. It has shifted the understanding of culturally led renewal in regional Australia. SAM is building a new stand-alone purpose built art museum designed by internationally acclaimed architects, Denton Corker Marshall, due to be completed by late 2020.

Rebecca has worked extensively as a curator in Australia and overseas, at institutions including the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne International Arts Festival (MIAF), and Museum of Modern Art Oxford (MOMA Oxford).  She was awarded a PhD in Art History by the University of Melbourne in 2013, and her thesis The rise of private art foundations: John Kaldor Art Projects 1969-2012 examined the role of private art foundations within a global contemporary art world. She has been a Lecturer in Art History and Art Curatorship, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne. From 2016 – 2019 she was an Honorary Fellow, school of Culture and Communication. She speaks and writes regularly on contemporary art and theory, curatorial practice, art in the public realm, and contemporary art museum architecture.

She is a Board member of the Public Galleries Association Victoria (PGAV); and has previously been a board member of the Australian Tapestry Workshop; Chair, City of Melbourne Public Art Advisory Panel; and a member of the Stonnington Arts Advisory Panel.