The SAM Board

SAM Ltd Board

Shepparton Art Museum Limited is the entity responsible for the Shepparton Art Museum since it transitioned from being a council-run entity to an independent public gallery.

Shepparton Art Museum Limited entered into lease, funding and custodian agreements with Council for the operations of SAM, and is responsible for managing the building and key stakeholder relationships with Kaiela Arts, the Visitor Centre, and commercial operations.

Shepparton Art Museum Limited is a registered company limited by guarantee (a company structure used for not-for-profit and charitable organisations that reinvest any profits towards the organisation's purposes).

The skills-based board comprises nine Company Directors with a range of backgrounds, expertise and experience.

The Company Directors are:

  • Stephen Merrylees (Chair)
  • Kimberley Moulton (Deputy Chair)
  • John Dewar AO
  • Jeannie Furphy
  • Jo Gartner
  • John Head OAM
  • Fiona Le Gassick (GSCC CEO)
  • Drew Pettifer
  • Clare Pullar (SAM Foundation)
  • Chris Teitzel (GSCC Director Corporate Services)

Board members will serve for a minimum of two to three years, to a maximum term of nine years. The new SAM will operate as a not-for-profit, charitable organisation and the Board positions are voluntary.

Director Profiles

Stephen Merrylees

Chair, SAM Ltd Board

Stephen Merrylees is SMR Legal’s Managing Director and has extensive experience as a senior political adviser and as a government lawyer with the federal government including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Having been a five-term Mayor and nationally accredited mediator, Stephen also has life experience operating a large family property, lecturing in law at Melbourne University Dookie Campus and as Executive Director of Goulburn Murray Community Leadership Program (Fairley Leadership).

Stephen has served on numerous local and state advisory boards and committees and has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course. He is currently Chair of the GV Health Foundation Board and a member of the CFA Shepparton District Headquarters Brigade.

Kimberley Moulton

Deputy Chair, SAM Ltd Board

Kimberley Moulton is a Yorta Yorta woman and was born and raised in Shepparton. Kimberley is a curator and writer and currently serves as Adjunct Curator Indigenous Art, Hyundai Transnational Research Centre: Tate, London.

Kimberley has worked in curatorial roles at Melbourne Museum for 10 years (Bunjilaka Project Officer and Curator 2008-2015) and has curated over 16 exhibitions with the Victorian Koorie community. In 2018 Kimberley was lead curator for Mandela: My Life, an exhibition on Nelson Mandela at Melbourne Museum in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Kimberley is passionate about supporting First Peoples cultures, histories, futures and agency within cultural institutions and has researched historical First Peoples collections across the world, connecting history and people, considering what it means historically and for the future of cultural materials in institutions. Kimberley has written extensively for art and museum publications nationally and internationally and held research, curatorial and writing fellowships across Europe, UK, South Asia and America. Kimberley has been engaged with SAM for several years with her arts writing and lecturing and was a judge for the 2016 and 2022 Indigenous Ceramic Art awards.

John Dewar AO

Director, SAM Ltd Board

Professor John Dewar has held many leadership positions in the higher education sector, including Vice-Chancellor at La Trobe University (for 12 years from January 2012 to January 2024), Griffith University and the University of Melbourne (as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (Global Relations) and Provost) and more recently, Interim Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of Wollongong. He is also a partner at KordaMentha in their performance improvement team since February 2024. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where he was also a Fellow of Hertford College from 1990-1995. He taught at Lancaster University and the University of Warwick in the UK, and worked for the London law firms Allen & Overy and Farrer & Co.

Jeannie Furphy

Director, SAM Ltd Board

Jeannie Furphy is a former stockbroker who has lived in Shepparton since 2000. 

Jeannie was raised in rural western Victoria before studying and working in Melbourne prior to her move to Shepparton. Jeannie holds a Bachelor of Business and a postgraduate Accounting Degree and has experience in financial management and a strong understanding of its importance to any organisation. 

Jeannie has a deep understanding of the value of effective community-based activities and organisations through numerous volunteer roles and committee involvement.

Jo Gartner

Director, SAM Ltd Board

Jo Gartner has more than 20 years of brand and marketing experience working across the arts, destination marketing, national retail shopping centres and property developments in Melbourne and Sydney.

Jo has led the marketing strategy for large-scale city retail dining precincts, including Southgate Melbourne and the award-winning marketing launch strategy for Gateway Sydney in Circular Quay. Jo also worked on major event projects during her time at the City of Melbourne including the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition series with NGV International and Australian Centre for the Moving Image, while responsible for promoting city visitation.

Jo holds a Masters of Marketing from Melbourne Business School and Bachelor of Arts Management from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, and is originally from Murchison.

John Head OAM

Director, SAM Ltd Board

John has been a Podiatrist and Shepparton Foot Clinic CEO since 1983. He served on the Victorian Podiatry Association Council (1992-1994), the Victorian Podiatry Registration Board’s Prescribing Practice Advisory Committee (2007-2016), the External Advisory Committee for the Schools of Podiatry at Charles Sturt and La Trobe Universities, as well as the Australasian Podiatry Council External Accreditation Panel for Podiatry at four Australian Universities. He was Chair of Leading Within (2010-2013), a not-for-profit mentoring program dealing with youth suicide in the Goulburn Valley, he was on the Goulburn Valley Grammar School Finance Committee (2007-2013), Shepparton Festival Board (1999-2015) in the role of Artistic Director between 2006 and 2015 and was awarded ‘Shepparton Citizen of the Year’ in 2012. He was the ‘Community Representative’ on the ‘New SAM Project Building Committee’ from 2016-2018. on the SAM Ltd Board since 2017, including as Chair until 2018.

John has been on the SAM Foundation Board since 2017, serving as Chair from 2017 to 2023, and has been a Committee Member of Shepparton Theatre Arts Group (STAG) since 2013. He joined the ‘Calder Woodburn Memorial Avenue Advisory Committee’ in 2022, where he is the current Chair. John is also an actor, playwright, painter and arts philanthropist in his spare time.

Fiona Le Gassick

Director, SAM Ltd Board

Fiona has led a rich career across a number of organisations, sectors and portfolios within Victoria and Tasmania.

Fiona has expertise, strengths and experience in strategic and business planning, government and stakeholder relations, industry and community engagement, business and workforce development, and cultural change. She also brings in-depth knowledge on strategic marketing and communications, customer service, people management, development and leadership, service model development, financial management and leading organisational and community transformation.

Prior to returning to Greater Shepparton City Council as CEO, Fiona has held director, management and leadership roles at Council, TasTAFE (Tasmania), GOTAFE, Berry Street and the former Victorian Department of Human Services, including stint as acting Chief Operating Officer at TasTAFE.

Fiona has qualifications in management, marketing, psychology, sociology and social work and is a graduate of the Australian Company Directors course.

Drew Pettifer

Director, SAM Ltd Board

Drew Pettifer is an artist and an Associate Professor in the School of Art at RMIT University. Born in Shepparton and raised in the Goulburn Valley, he holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours – First Class) in Cultural Studies, a Bachelor of Laws, a Graduate Certificate in Visual Art, a Master of Arts (Arts Management) and a PhD in Fine Art (Photography). Recent exhibitions featuring his artwork include Closer Together, Hong Kong Arts Centre (2024), Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria (2023), and Queer, National Gallery of Victoria (2022).

In addition to his background as an artist, lawyer, curator, academic, and writer, Drew has an extensive history with SAM, having served various terms on the Artistic and Acquisitions Committee since 2010 and a five-year term on the SAM Foundation Board.

Clare Pullar

Director, SAM Ltd Board

Clare has 30 years’ experience in building the capacity of institutions through strategic philanthropy. She served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Advancement) for the University of Queensland (UQ) from 2009 to 2016. Prior to this, Clare led Development at Trinity College University of Melbourne, Melbourne Business School and Goulburn Valley Grammar School.

She is chair of Janet Clarke Hall University of Melbourne and served as a Board member of the Australian Youth Orchestra for 9 years. Clare and her husband David had run family orchards in Ardmona for 20 years from the early 1970s to 1990s. She also taught English at Mooroopna High School and Goulburn Valley Grammar during that time.

Chris Teitzel

Director, SAM Ltd Board

Chris Teitzel is a strategic, community focused individual with exceptional corporate governance, finance and operation planning skills. He has a strong interest in the Arts and over the course of his career has overseen the strategic direction and operations of 4 regional art galleries, 2 regional historical museums and 2 performing arts centres.

Chris has been with Greater Shepparton City Council as Director Corporate Services since 2014 and has almost 30 year’s local government and private sector experience in both Queensland and Victoria.

Chris has held many senior roles including CEO, Director Community and Environmental Services, Director Corporate Services and Manager Finance as well a position of Commercial Manager in the private sector. Chris is a Certified Practicing Accountant with a Degree in Business and a Graduate Certificate in Management.