Yvette Pratt, Executive Director at the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)

Yvette Pratt has been with the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales since 2022, previously holding the role of Chief Operating Officer. Prior to her work with the Society, Yvette served as Head of Education and Engagement at the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney and Public Programs Manager at the National Gallery of Victoria. She is currently President of the Australian Federation of Friends of Museums.

As Executive Director of the Society, Yvette is committed to creating a community of art lovers and ensuring that the Art Gallery of New South Wales continues to be a leader in art museum membership.

The Art of Connection: Using Data and AI to Bring People Closer to Culture

The purpose of our work is simple but powerful: to show how data and AI can deepen human connection. At the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales, we believe that technology isn’t just about efficiency: it can help people feel seen, valued, and part of something bigger.

Over the past two years, this belief has guided a transformational journey that has reshaped how we understand and engage with our 38,000 Members. What began as an attempt to untangle messy, fragmented data systems has grown into something far larger: a new, human-centered approach to building community.

For too long, our Members’ stories were scattered across different platforms — ticketing, CRM, booking systems — making it impossible to truly understand who they were or how they engaged with the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Instead of replacing those systems, we brought in a data analyst and built a robust Power BI ecosystem that finally allowed us to see our Members clearly.

And the impact was profound.

We could suddenly map behaviors, attendance patterns, interests, and preferences, and we changed the way we communicated because of it. The results spoke for themselves: in 2024, membership grew by 16% to 38,000 and retention rose from 69% to 78%. We no longer look at “categories” of Members. We speak to people — real people whose engagement we now understand deeply.

This transformation naturally led us to the next step, creating the digital Members Hub, a world-first initiative designed to build trust, foster loyalty, and bring different communities together in one personalized space.

The Members Hub is built around three key ideas:

• Consistency and clarity: A reliable and trustworthy digital home where Members can easily find events, benefits, stories, and information.

• Personalization: Tailored content that reflects what Members love — artists, programs, and genres — so each person feels recognized, not reduced to a number.

• Connection: A place where long-term supporters, our 6,000 young Members under the age of 25, Australian artists, regional audiences, and international art lovers can all coexist and meet, even if they never cross paths in person.

When the Members Hub launches in July 2026, it will demonstrate what we now know to be true: data, when used with care and creativity, can be a powerful connector.

It can bring people closer to art, to each other, and to the Art Gallery itself. It can transform a large membership base into a vibrant, interconnected community.