With a city as layered, diverse, and rich as Sydney, the remit on how public spaces can operate in a post-COVID world can seem daunting, but it’s one that Kelly takes in her stride.

“One of the things I love about managing creative and cultural projects is that for each one, I get to live vicariously through the many different specialists that come together to execute the project,” she says. “It’s a huge privilege to get even the littlest insight into what makes people tick.”

“Knowing that whatever my day will entail, it will be for the benefit of the community I work for. The same goes for everyone that works at the City, and having that common goal makes it a pretty inspiring place to work.”

The multi-faceted nature of Kelly’s role means her work changes from week to week. Some days are spent in the office, others on a construction site or inspecting artwork, which brings its own new and interesting challenges.

“The nature of my job means I am often managing multi-disciplinary teams consisting of artists, designers, specialist consultants, architects, engineers, gardeners, lighting technicians and many other trades,” she shares. “I get to meet and work with so many incredible thinkers, makers and doers.”

“Having come from an arts background means that I can relate to a project from the artist’s or cultural practitioner’s point of view. I understand what their priorities are, why that perspective adds so much value to a project, and importantly how to communicate that to the wider team.”