Sarah Hetherington

Sarah Hetherington is an independent art advisor supporting private, corporate and government clients to navigate the global art market, build meaningful art collections and deliver significant projects. Sarah is an Approved Valuer under the Australian Government Cultural Gifts Program.

Sarah was most recently Director, Galleries at Sydney Contemporary – Australasia’s premier art fair – where she was responsible for sales and the client relationship management for over 95 leading galleries from Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Sarah was instrumental in further strengthening the reputation and impact of Sydney Contemporary nationally and internationally, to the benefit of commercial galleries and their artists, facilitating over AU$85million worth in art sales across three physical and two digital editions of the Fair (2018-2023).

In 2023, Sarah held the curatorial responsibility of Installation Contemporary delivering 13 large-scale, ambitious art projects by Indigenous, Australian and international artists located throughout the iconic architecture of Carriageworks, Sydney.

Previous senior positions include: Benefaction Manager at the Biennale of Sydney (2015-2018), Gallery Manager at Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney (2009-2015) and Curator at Ivan Dougherty Gallery, UNSW (2008). Sarah is a member of the International Art Critics Association (AICA) and was a Board Director of Art Month Sydney during its inaugural year (2009-2010).

Sarah is now the Indo-Pacific Correspondent for Habitus Living and Indesign. She has also interviewed leading contemporary artists including Cerith Wyn Evans, Bill Viola, Haegue Yang and Lee Ufan and has been published in ArtReview, Artist Profile, Art Monthly Australasia, Ocula, The Art World, Eyeline, Vault - Art & Culture, Artlink and The Art Market Report.

Professional services include:

• Advice on starting, building and refining an art collection

• Artist commissions; public art, curation and project management

• Appraisal and strategic deaccessioning; valuations (insurance, Cultural Gifts)

• Advice on collection management, conservation and logistics

• Art education, including private tours of artist studios, commercial galleries, art museums, local and international art fairs and biennales

• Art market insights, industry intelligence and research

• Writing and publishing

• Sales and business development; philanthropy; government and corporate partnerships

• Strategy and delivery of major events, biennales, art fairs and festivals.

Cultural Gifts Program Approved Classes: Australian, New Zealand (excluding Maori and traditional art practices), Europe (inc. United Kingdom and Russia) North America, South East Asia, North, East Asia and South Asia after 1960 in the following classes: Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Ceramics, Installation, Video, Works on paper and archival material or documentation directly related to items included in a valuation.

October 2024

Master of Art Administration, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales (2007)

Bachelor of Art Theory (Hons), College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales (2005)