Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka director Jane Smith has resigned from her position.
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Ms Smith broke the news recently but will continue working at the centre until September 30.
She told The Courier she believed the time was right for her to move on with the centre currently in the middle of showcasing its very successful exhibition ‘19th Century Bling: Goldfields Jewelry’.
“Setting up M.A.D.E has been an amazing experience and I have really enjoyed it,” she said. “It has gone from a concept, (...) we had to sort of start from scratch and do a lot of experimentation as to what would work.”
“Bling really shows what we are capable of, it is a national standard exhibition
“We have had people come from all over the country to see it, we have had great media coverage, I just went ‘that’s it, I have done it, I have shown that it is possible, now I can go and try something else’”
It hasn’t been an easy path for M.A.D.E which has received its fair share of criticism for early financial woes. However, Ms Smith said the tipping point for the museum came during the Eureka 160th celebrations in 2014.
“Look it is fair to say there was a range of legacy issues around Eureka and M.A.D.E and we worked very hard to get involved with the key groups in the Ballarat community to make sure we were an important part of what was on offer,” she said. “I think people now understand what M.A.D.E is and can be in a way they didn't in the beginning, we didn't know at the beginning either. It was a brand new experiment of a highly immersive, digitally interactive museum dealing with democracy.
“I have loved the people and the ideas I have got to play with, there is part of me that will really miss that.
“It has been a very full on three and a half years by the time I leave. For the first 18 months I worked seven days a week and very long hours so yeah I am not rushing into something else. I am taking my time to think about what I’d like to do next.”