As a pathways gallery, we champion artistic excellence, integrity, accessibility, and experimentation, fostering diversity while empowering emerging artists to advance their careers and supporting established artists in their continued growth.

Curatorial+Co. began as a curated online art gallery and exhibition concept supporting emerging artists in 2015, and launched its first permanent exhibition space in Redfern, Sydney, in 2020. Since 2023, Curatorial+Co.’s acclaimed exhibition program has been presented in its 300-square-metre gallery on William Street, Woolloomooloo, offering increased visibility and profile for its artists.

Founder and Director Sophie Vander is committed to supporting emerging, mid-career and established artists through meaningful career development opportunities both within and beyond the gallery walls. Central to the gallery’s ethos is the cultivation of thoughtful connections between artists and collectors, fostering mutual growth, understanding and appreciation. With 80% of its roster comprising female-identifying artists, Curatorial+Co. is deeply committed to addressing gender imbalance in the arts. Through its dynamic exhibition program, art fair participation and art consultancy practice, the gallery creates opportunities for its artists that extend beyond the traditional white-wall gallery model.

Meet the team

Sophie Vander

Founder + Director

Founder and Director of Curatorial+Co. – a Sydney/Eora art gallery and art consultancy specialising in contemporary works by emerging and mid-career artists across all creative disciplines.

With an eye for discovering new talent, and a deep commitment to facilitating positive art experiences, Sophie works alongside her team to develop artists’ careers through a strong exhibition program, and placing works outside the gallery walls in residential, commercial and public spaces.

At the core of Curatorial+Co.’s ethos is connecting new collectors with emerging artists, enabling creative encounters that are inspiring, accessible and future thinking.

Photography Anne Graham. Artwork Andre de Vanny

Claire Field

Senior Curator

Claire Field is an experienced contemporary curator and art consultant who is deeply committed to facilitating art experiences that have a positive effect on people’s lives. Claire is skilled in the conceptualisation and delivering of large-scale public art projects, strategising the art integration at all stages of the project’s development, ensuring inspirational results are achieved. She is a lover of visual narrative, with a penchant for activating spaces to communicate an intended idea, mood, or style. With over 20 years’ experience working within both the public and private art sectors, Claire holds a Master of Art and Curatorship from Sydney University (2015), and Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Tasmania (2001).

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Emily Eden

Gallery Manager

Emily is deeply interested in the many unexpected ways we encounter and engage with art in everyday life. Guided by a commitment to making a lasting contribution to the art world, she is focused on advancing the development, visibility, and accessibility of contemporary art for diverse audiences. Through both her academic and professional pursuits, Emily aims to champion artists, foster creativity, and cultivate a dynamic art landscape across a vast range of communities.

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Shannon Smith

Art Consultant

Shannon is a passionate art consultant who is dedicated to enriching Australia’s cultural future through connecting a new generation of artists with collectors. Driven by the ambition to facilitate collectors to discover unique and forward-thinking artists, as well as the determination to support artists to develop their studio practice, Shannon sees her role as one that nurtures the symbiotic nature of this relationship. Having developed her curatorial eye on film sets, productions, and exhibitions, her perspective is uniquely spatial, as she has a nuanced understanding of how artworks are perceived differently in real life, publication, and screen. She holds a Master of Fine Art from the National Art School (2016), where she also completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (2014) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours (2015).

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Gabriela Sutherland

Project Manager

Gabriela is a Chilean-Australian project manager enthusiastic about delivering large scale projects and facilitating opportunities for artists. With an unconventional background that has led her to the arts, Gabriela is passionate about learning from and about changing environments, the interaction of art and people within diverse spaces, and contributing towards successful project outcomes for artists, clients, designers, architects and developers.

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Jess Bruzzaniti

Assistant Curator

Jess is a thoughtful and detail-driven Assistant Curator with over a decade of experience working across the arts in galleries, consultancies, artist studios, and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art. Previously based in New York, she delivered complex curatorial projects for institutional and corporate clients, including Fortune 500 companies. Her practice is shaped by a unique global and cross-cultural perspective. Through considered curation and meaningful collaboration, she is highly attuned to artists’ intentions and the nuances of each space. Jess grounds each project in clarity, care, and an artist-first approach from concept through to completion.

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Heidi Hosseini

Financial + Project Analyst

Heidi is an experienced project-finance analyst with over 10 years’ experience in the financial sector. She holds a Bachelor of Business Management (2012), a Master of Finance (2017), and a Master of Professional Accounting (2024) from La Trobe University. Heidi brings a sharp analytical mindset and a strong foundation in financial planning and execution, playing a key role in designing strategies across systems and procedures. Beyond her professional expertise, Heidi holds a lifelong passion for art, expressed through her own love of oil painting. Deeply committed to bridging the worlds of finance and creativity, Heidi fosters environments where artistic vision and strategic thinking collide to create a meaningful impact

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Ivana Byak

Gallery Assistant

Ivana is an arts professional whose unwavering commitment to contemporary art has led her to grow with Curatorial+Co. She views contemporary art as a powerful connective force, one that challenges, inspires, and reshapes how we navigate an increasingly fragmented world. Her own artistic practice informs her professional approach, allowing her to support artists with empathy and insight while facilitating a seamless, considered experience for clients. She is deeply invested in shifting how contemporary art is engaged with and accessed, believing that its impact extends beyond visual interpretation to become embodied, affective, and lived.

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