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 is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts