Powerhouse Museum director Dolla Merrillees resigns
The director of the Powerhouse Museum, Dolla Merrillees, will leave the role amid questions over a lavish fundraising gala.
The director of the embattled Powerhouse Museum, Dolla Merrillees, will leave the organisation amid questions over a lavish fundraising gala that cost more than it made.
The black-tie ball — inspired by events such as the Metropolitan Museum’s Met Gala in New York — cost about $388,000 to stage, with the state-owned museum contributing $215,209. It raised just $78,500 to support a new fund for the museum’s fashion collections.
After ABC News reports about the loss-making event, NSW upper house MP Robert Borsak called for Ms Merrillees to resign and accused Arts Minister Don Harwin of misleading parliament. Mr Harwin rejected the accusation.
Ms Merrillees is on leave and has not commented on the matter. Her term will end on September 7 at the end of her leave period.
Barney Glover, president of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences Trust, said in a statement that Ms Merrillees had decided to not apply for a new role of chief executive “and consequently has decided to leave MAAS”.
Ms Merrillees has led the trust since 2016 amid a bitter debate over plans by the Berejiklian government to move its main venue, the Powerhouse Museum, from inner-city Ultimo to Parramatta in western Sydney. The cost of moving the museum has been estimated at $1 billion and the plan has angered long-term Powerhouse supporters.
In the statement Mr Glover said the museum would now begin a search for a chief executive to guide this “major new cultural infrastructure project through to implementation”.
Mr Harwin last night thanked Ms Merrillees for leading the trust through an “exciting and challenging phase”.
“Dolla’s leadership during the decision phase to move the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta has helped lay the platform for the future of this treasured institution,” Mr Harwin said.
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