The former Heide Museum of Modern Art director and QAGOMA curator will take over Geelong’s Art Gallery in February.

Jason Smith is one of the elder statesmen of the Australian art world. He spent more than a decade as the curator of the contemporary art collection at the National Gallery of Victoria, ran the Heide Museum of Modern Art for more than six years, and has just finished a 15-moth stint as curator of Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). Now the celebrated curator is heading to rural Victoria to take up the role of director at Geelong’s 120-year-old Art Gallery.

“Geelong is something I have had my eye on for a while, even while I was at Heide,” Smith said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. During his time as a curator in Brisbane, Smith was involved with the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT), which has attracted more than 90,000 visitors since its opening in November. “I’ve had an incredibly wonderful year here with APT production, it’s been incredible to be part of a dynamic team. But having led an institution for the better...