The former CEO of Arts Centre Melbourne, Judith Isherwood, who oversaw the major overhaul of Hamer Hall in 2011, and was also the first chief executive of Wales’ landmark Millennium Centre, has died of mesothelioma. She was 64.
From contemplating a career as a jillaroo in her teens, Isherwood moved on from studying agricultural science at school to enjoy a long and distinguished career in arts management.
After graduating from a production management course at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art, where she would later join the Board) in 1982, she was initially drawn to stage management, and took a NIDA placement with The National Theatre Company in Perth, including periods spent with the WA Ballet Company and the WA Opera Company.
In her mid 30s, a role at Arts Access Victoria led to her first senior administrative position as Chief Executive and then as the General Manager of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, before spending three years as Director of Performing Arts at Sydney Opera House.
Judith Isherwood: from AFL to rugby
Born in Melbourne, Isherwood settled with her family in Geelong, where she naturally became Cats supporter, later comparing sport and the arts by telling Agenda Matters, football “is like theatre on a grand scale and the MCG is such a great experience”.
From 2002 to 2009 she was located in Wales, where she successfully took on the challenging role of inaugural Chief Executive of the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC), and was swiftly introduced to rugby at Cardiff City Stadium. “While it is fun to watch,” she says, “I still have no idea of what scrums are about,” she told Agenda Matters.
Making an indelible impact on the Welsh arts sector, Isherwood was remembered this week by many who worked with her at the time, and who credited her leadership and mentorship skills as assisting with their own careers. Among those tributes:
“… she was a complete force of nature who truly left her mark in Wales. She will never be forgotten.”
“… such an incredible leader… [we had] so much respect and love for Judith and her legacy in Wales.”
“She turned the time I worked with her into something magical and when she left [the Wales Millennium Centre] she took that magic with her. She’s touched so many lives over the years.”
When Isherwood left Wales to return to her Melbourne in 2009, the late arts writer and broadcaster Nicola Heywood Thomas, who described her “smile, steely determination and fierce intelligence”, wrote on the BBC’s website:
“So Judith Isherwood, chief executive of Wales Millennium Centre is heading back to her native Australia. Frankly, I’m gutted… In the seven years since she’s been here, Judith has achieved what she set out to do. She steered a large arts ship – a first of its kind in Wales – through the choppy waters of a grand scale opening season that would establish the program of events as being both Welsh and international enough to guarantee bums on seats.
“I think Wales has been lucky to have her here and the Welsh arts world will be the poorer when she’s gone.”
Judith Isherwood: back on home soil
Appointed as the Chief Executive of Arts Centre Melbourne in 2009, Isherwood oversaw the refurbishment of Hamer Hall two years later, while laying out her vision for the future of the city’s arts culture.
“We think of ourselves as one of that group of international arts centres of the scale and complexity and in the same context as places like the Kennedy Centre in Washington or the Lincoln Centre in New York or the Southbank Centre in London,” she told Agenda Matters. “But equally we are very focused on what happens throughout the whole Asia-Pacific area.”
When she stepped down from the role in November 2013, Victorian Arts Centre Trust President Tom Harley said, “In her four-year tenure, she has overseen the incredibly complex, challenging but successful rebuild of Hamer Hall and its reopening last year.”
He added, “Judith has also been responsible for invigorating the centre with a comprehensive and diverse offering of programs. Through many programming activities, Arts Centre Melbourne has attracted growing and broader audiences with many people experiencing the Arts Centre’s rich offering for the first time.”
Facing health issues, Isherwood retired to regional Victoria with her long-time partner Cheryl Johnson. In mid 2017, she was diagnosed with progressive MS, before receiving the additional devastating diagnosis of mesothelioma, a rare asbestos-related lung cancer in April 2024. As she posted on social media, it was “inoperable and incurable”.
Judith Isherwood: legacy
Johnson praised Isherwood’s indefatigable nature as an arts leader this week, saying, “She did all this being authentically herself, working always with the greatest integrity – a breath of fresh air and unbreakable resilience in the face of incessant battles for arts funding, political ideologies and opinions.”
In 2013, during her tenure as Chief Executive of Arts Centre Melbourne, Isherwood looked back on her career with justifiable pride. “When I started as stage manager, if someone said to me that I would be doing this sort of job I would have thought there is no way that someone as a stage manager could end up in this position.”
Judith Isherwood (7 October 1960 to 1 July 2025) died aged 64 after a courageous fight with mesothelioma, maintaining her sense of humour until the end. She leaves behind her partner Cheryl, family and friends.
