Ivan Dougherty Gallery (1977–2009) was a contemporary art gallery that over three decades established a remarkable national and international reputation for the independence and quality of its curatorial research and exhibitions. Located from 1981 UNSW’s Paddington campus, Ivan Dougherty Gallery (IDG) was a key player within the Australian contemporary art network and forerunner to the current UNSW Galleries. IDG directors were Chris Gentle (1977–1986), Maggie Gilchrist (1987–1989), Louise Pether (1989–1991) and Nick Waterlow OAM (1991–2009).

Housed within a heritage-listed old school building and comprising two high-ceilinged, white cube galleries divided by a more intimate exhibition space, IDG staged around ten exhibitions each year focussed on recent and contemporary Australian and international art of all disciplines. Exhibitions were accompanied by catalogue publications, educational material, forums and floor talks, providing information to students on campus while also encouraging discourse across the wider community.

IDG exhibitions were curated by the gallery’s curatorial staff, faculty academics, and guest curators, often including artists. Additionally, the gallery often partnered in the development and presentation of exhibition projects with major cultural organisations such as the Sydney Festival, the International Symposium of Electronic Arts and, when the Summer Olympics came to Sydney in 2000, the Olympic Arts Festival. IDG’s long-standing relationship with the Biennale of Sydney was fostered by curator and former IDG director Nick Waterlow, who was on the Biennale board and led four editions of the city-wide exhibition.

Celebrating Ivan Dougherty Gallery’s 30th anniversary in 2007, Waterlow wrote:

“Ivan Dougherty Gallery celebrates its thirtieth anniversary on 24 October, having put on around three hundred exhibitions, with over 1,250 artists from all over this country and many other parts of the world. Roughly half of these exhibitions have been initiated and curated by gallery and College of Fine Arts staff, whilst others have come from curators at the National Gallery of Australia, state and regional galleries, the Biennale of Sydney, and university museums and contemporary art spaces across Australia. The exhibitions have addressed numerous topics and encompassed every medium, with the aim of bringing to the fore art and design practice that stimulates study, research, teaching and learning not only for the College and University but for the broader public of all ages. The gallery provides a unique resource … working as a laboratory where ideas are tested and disseminated through the rigours of an exhibition.”

In the early 2000s – in response to a desire for larger and more ambitious exhibition projects – IDG senior curator Felicity Fenner initiated an architectural competition to explore the feasibility of expanding the gallery’s footprint on the Paddington campus. Having secured a major federal government grant, IDG closed from 2010 to make way for a three-year campus redevelopment led by former faculty dean Ian Howard, with the new UNSW Galleries launched in 2013. The old IDG building has since become a research and teaching facility.