Exit interview: Marcus Westbury, Director, Collingwood Yards

The outgoing Director of Melbourne's newest arts precinct reflects on his time at the organisation, finds himself 'very, very happy' and details the challenges of shaping a new cultural community.

After five years and one month as the Director of Melbourne’s newest arts precinct, Collingwood Yards, Marcus Westbury is looking forward to some downtime now that the long-awaited venture has opened its doors to the public at last.

‘This is the longest full-time job I have ever had, where I focused on one project all the way through,’ Westbury tells ArtsHub, adding that he has a backlog of ‘thought bubbles and ideas and partial projects that are backing up’ behind a ‘dam wall’ in his mind.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts