Finding your path is more art than science

As she looks out from her office within the Queensland Art Gallery's Gallery of Modern Art at South Bank, Sally Brand is swept back in time more than two decades, to weekend evenings spent studying Physics, Chemistry and Maths by the river.

`I would ask my mother to drop me off at the State Library of Queensland so that I could study while looking out over the swirling river and the twinkling skyscrapers,’ she remembers. `My office now has much the same view, however with many more—and considerably higher—buildings reaching into the Brisbane skyline.’

In late 2025, Sally moved back to Brisbane after 20 years away to take up a `dream job’ as Curatorial Manager of Australian Art at GOMA. Prior to this, she spent seven years at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, most recently as coordinator of the National Indigenous Art Triennial.

It’s been somewhat of an unexpected career path for a student who excelled in Maths and Science, representing Australia at the International Young Physicists' Tournament in her final year at Girls Grammar in 1999. But art has always been a constant and duelling passion for Sally, raised in a household where her mother was an artist and art teacher, and her father a general practitioner.

`My sisters and I were always encouraged to pursue our own interests, which is one of the reasons my parents sent us here to Girls Grammar,’ she says. And no one could accuse her of wasting the opportunities on offer.

`In my final years here I studied two Maths, Chemistry, Physics, English and Art. I was Head Girl, played in the Big Band, represented the school, and Australia, at the International Young Physicists' Tournament in Vienna, and won the Art prize for my year.

`When I was a Grammar girl I embodied the motto Nil sine labore. I loved that I could pursue all my interests, no matter how diverse they were.’

Going on to study for dual Arts/Science degrees at the University of Queensland, Sally continued to straddle two worlds until she had something of an epiphany in a physics laboratory—perhaps not one that changed the world, but it certainly changed her world.

`What I found when I looked around the physics lab—with only two other young women in my class—was that I was not with my people; the people I really connected with; who I wanted to spend my time with; who I could share and build upon ideas with.’

Despite the fact she was excelling in her Science subjects, Sally got her parents’ blessing to focus solely on Arts.

`From an early age I was nurtured in the belief that art was never a waste of time. Art was a pursuit for smart women looking to see the world in different ways.’

She never looked back, making life-long friends during her degree and building an outstanding career as a gallerist.

After spending 10 years of her early career immersed in the world of private galleries in Sydney and Beijing, Sally eventually took up a position at the National Gallery in Canberra. Here, she was integral in bringing inspiring and ground-breaking art projects to the public, including Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhales: Every Heart Sings—which involved hot air balloons depicting a fantastical whale family—and cutting-edge animatronic art in Jordan Wolfson’s Body Sculpture.

Interestingly, she still draws upon her strong understanding of Science and Maths, explaining: `Major artistic projects don’t happen outside the rules of gravity, or without complex budgets, or managing the statistical probabilities of risk.’

Sally is true believer in the power of art and artists to shift the public narrative.

`I love how art can knock you off your feet and change the way you think about the world while also being able to offer a helping hand and provide respite in hard times.’

Being part of the process that brings this art to a public stage was incredibly rewarding, Sally said, and she encouraged Grammar girls to consider it as a career path.

`Look out for volunteer opportunities where you can meet people and get an understanding of the variety of roles there are within the arts. Brisbane has many youth arts and artist-run initiatives that regularly make call outs for volunteers.'

Returning to her hometown, now quite a different space for the arts than it was in the ‘90s, has been tremendously exciting. `There are many exceptional artists who live and make work in this city.'

Each week she meets with artists, collectors, dealers and peers at other galleries to discuss opportunities and developments in the art world. While, within the gallery, she regularly consults colleagues on potential purchases and exhibitions.

Sally particularly encourages people to visit GOMA's current kith and kin installation by Kamilaroi and Bigambul artist Archie Moore, on until October 2026. The internationally lauded installation includes a family tree spanning 65,000 years that represents both Moore’s exploration of his personal heritage, and the broader history and loss of his people. Its simplicity and complexity prompts reflection on how people are connected through place and time.

`It generously brings you into the story and asks you to pause and consider: Who are you? Who are your kith, your kin, your people? How are we connected? What makes us different? How can we reckon with our past to create a better future?’

She urged Grammar girls, themselves the benefactors of a heritage that advocated for gender equity, to continue to pay this legacy forward.

`With this inheritance we have responsibilities to know and recognise our history and keep working to make this country a fairer, more equitable place for every person.’