Art Gallery of NSW director Maud Page has defended the makeup of staff cuts at the much-loved institution.
The Sydney gallery is looking to save $7.5 million by losing one in eight full-time-equivalent roles.
The cuts, announced in August, drew condemnation from the union and prompted staff to walk off the job for the first time in a decade.
Most of the jobs going are frontline workers, with one of seven executive positions cut and the level below mostly untouched, according to the Public Service Association (PSA) which represents gallery employees.
But Ms Page argues the restructure will leave her with the leanest leadership team of any cultural institution in the state.
"I think it's really well calibrated, and I would challenge anyone that thinks it's not," she told ABC Radio in Sydney on Thursday.
"I've looked at everything really carefully, and I've looked at it personally."
Page promised revenue-raising departments were immune and said most of the positions earmarked to go are from middle-ranking roles.
The changes will enable the gallery to be sustainable as it faces a funding cliff, she said.
Gallery staff believe a loss of curatorial jobs will affect operations, including the management and preservation of the gallery's valuable collection, said PSA assistant general secretary Troy Wright.
He said union members believe there will not be enough staff to continue the gallery's annual program of international shows.
"When you cut staff positions responsible for curation, then overseas galleries and overseas exhibitions are going to be concerned about the preservation of their artwork once it arrives in Sydney," he said.
The Art Gallery of NSW opened its new $344 million precinct in December 2022, and welcomed more than 2.3 million visitors in 2024.
Mr Wright said the gallery is busier than ever, and questioned the NSW government's funding priorities.
"We've got money for sports stadiums, we've got money for fish markets. This is small change, it can be found in the bottom of the drawer anywhere in government terms," he said.
The cuts to gallery staff follow the state government's announcement in June to cut a quarter of its Create NSW arts funding agency's staff.
Also on Thursday, the gallery announced a new artwork by sculptor Ron Mueck to be unveiled as part of his first major solo exhibition in Australia in more than a decade.
The Melbourne-born artist has created an immersive sculpture titled Havoc 2025 for the show, depicting two packs of oversized dogs about to fight.
His exhibitions are popular and should prove a drawcard for the gallery. A solo show in Korea earlier in 2025 broke attendance records at Seoul's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
