Qtopia Sydney has appointed arts and cultural leader Cecily Hardy as its new Chief Executive Officer, as the organisation focuses on sustaining and growing its role in Sydney’s cultural and community life.
Hardy was Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer of physical theatre company Legs On The Wall for six years, leading its artistic and organisational renewal. Most recently, she served as Executive Producer of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas and Director of Public Programs at The Ethics Centre.
Her career has spanned major festivals, nationally and internationally toured productions, and cultural projects developed with communities across Australia and around the world.
Since opening in February 2024, Qtopia Sydney has established a permanent home for LGBTQIA+ history and culture. Hardy’s appointment is expected to help the precinct build on those foundations, expanding opportunities for community members, artists and audiences to gather, create and contribute to Sydney’s cultural life.
Announcing the appointment, the Qtopia Sydney Board said:
“This is an important moment for Qtopia Sydney, and Cecily is exactly the leader to take us into it. Her track record of building sustainable, artistically ambitious cultural organisations grounded in community has us genuinely excited for what Qtopia Sydney can become as a cultural institution of national significance.”
Hardy said Qtopia Sydney had an important role to play not only in preserving and sharing LGBTQIA+ history, but also in contributing to Sydney’s contemporary cultural life.
“Qtopia Sydney exists because people fought to make sure our stories would be remembered,” Hardy said.
“As the daughter of someone who protested one year on from 1978, that history matters deeply to me. As Sydney loses queer spaces, Qtopia has a chance to be somewhere everyone in our communities can gather, create, look to the future, and feel safe.”
“I’m excited by what Qtopia Sydney can become as a cultural space people return to again and again. There is enormous opportunity ahead to bring fresh energy, ideas and vision to the precinct while staying firmly rooted in community and recognising everything that has already been created here.”
Hardy succeeds inaugural CEO Greg Fisher, who announced in February that he would be stepping down from the role.
Qtopia Sydney is located at 301 Forbes Street, Darlinghurst, the site of the former Darlinghurst Police Station, where participants in the first Sydney Mardi Gras march were detained following the event in 1978.
