While the circumstances of each departure are different, Live Performance Australia president Richard Evans said the intense pressure on cultural leaders post-COVID was a common experience for all.

“These jobs were difficult to do 20 years ago, but now they are so much greater for all institutions, with community and funder expectations around representation, global politics and diversification of both the workforce and the audiences,” he said.

“Institutions have less discretionary revenue than ever before,” he added. “Government investment levels were set 25 years ago. The level of public expectation is growing exponentially, while the financial elbow room is shrinking.”

Pitman was appointed to lead Create NSW in 2022, when the two previous executive positions were amalgamated into a single role, signalling a consolidation of policy and infrastructure under the Coalition.

Arts minister John Graham credited Pitman for the revitalisation of Sydney’s Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, The Gunnery and the development of the state’s first arts, culture and creative industries policy, Creative Communities.

But Pitman was often overshadowed by Sydney Opera House’s chief executive Louise Herron, who also helped oversee the writing of NSW Labor’s new 10-year road map to reinvigorate the faltering sector.

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Herron also chairs the new 11-member panel established to implement the Creative Communities policy, and was at one stage in the frame for a new role spearheading sweeping changes to arts and culture policy. But it is thought she is unlikely to succeed Pitman and will remain at the Opera House in the short term.

At Museums of History NSW, Pitman will need to resurrect the public profile of the institution, which has taken a dramatic tumble since it lost Adam Lindsay, its energetic and dynamic former head, on the eve of its foundation in December 2022.

She succeeds Mary Darwell, who has been acting in the role for 16 months, and takes up her position on October 14.

Several sources with not the authority to speak said Pitman had been encouraged to apply after an initial search.

Darwell’s achievements include support of First Nations peoples and communities and truth telling and significant “under the bonnet” changes to the museum’s corporate systems and processes.

Graham said Pitman had a proven track record in arts, heritage and cultural leadership, and was well-equipped to elevate Museums of History NSW in its mission to preserve and share the stories of the state through places, collections and archives.

“I am excited about the next chapter of this important organisation under Annette’s leadership, leveraging the successes and partnerships she has built across the NSW creative sector to further the mission of Museums of History.”