Harbourside Museum of Contemporary Art to lose popular director after 22 years

Museum of Contemporary Art director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor will step down after 22 successful years in the job.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia will soon be looking for a new director to take over from the popular and successful Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, who announced today that she will end her tenure in October after 22 years at the helm.

The Scots-born Macgregor hit Sydney in September 1999 wearing her signature tartan Doc Martens. And use them she did.

MCA director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor in front of the installation Mega Death.

Thanks to Macgregor’s energy and vivacity and her fearless approach in the face of unimaginative bureaucrats and politicians, the tired and near-bankrupt MCA on the shores of Circular Quay was propelled into the black.

The MCA went on to forge a dynamic contract with the people of Sydney, staging challenging exhibitions but always prioritising a democratic style of presentation.

The institution reached out to engage directly and meaningfully with Western Sydney, particularly through its C3West initiative that instigated collaborations between local artists, local businesses and local communities.

In 2012 the MCA’s floor space was increased by 50 per cent after a $53 million, five-storey extension with killer views of the harbour from its terrace cafe.

The extension boosted audiences by 30 per cent and, before the ravages of COVID, the MCA was among the most visited contemporary art museums in the world, with one million visitors a year.

Macgregor with her partner Peter Le Gras.

Macgregor decked in her beloved tartan.

Macgregor said that throughout her tenure she was often contacted by headhunters offering her other museum directorships overseas, including the prestigious Tate Modern.

“But whenever I sat down and analysed it, I would think: ‘why would I leave Sydney?’,” Macgregor said.

“I never wanted to run anything more flash or bigger. This is such a great institution.”

Macgregor hopes her successor will be found and appointed by her scheduled departure in October.

After that, she plans to return to Scotland to spend time with her 86-year-old mother and siblings.

Macgregor snorkelling with endangered grey nurse sharks.

But Sydney has not seen the last of Elizabeth Ann Macgregor and her partner, Peter Le Gras, with whom she shares a passion for scuba diving.

“I’m sure we’ll come back. We’re leaving it all open,” she said.

She has made many friends among Australia’s artists, including Lindy Lee whose recent MCA exhibition was curated by Macgregor herself.

Macgregor opening new gallery space inside the MCA.

Macgregor hopes that Lee’s sculpture, Secret World of a Starlight Ember — currently positioned on the MCA’s Circular Quay forecourt — will become permanent.

It would be a fitting part of her own MCA “legacy”, she said.

As the new director, in 1999.

MCA’s Mordant Wing under construction.

Apart from devoting more time to scuba diving, Macgregor said she might write a book.

“There’s some really good war stories, going back. Memoirs of a Museum Director has quite a nice ring about it,” she said.

“I’m not looking for another job. I want to think about what I want to do, basically.”