A planned changing of the guard at the Cultural Facilities Corporation has seen a swag of exceptionally high-profile appointments to its board.

From July 1, Mathew Trinca, formerly director of the National Museum, will become chair, while marketing and business consultant Toni Cody, a committee chair at the National Fim and Sound Archive with a history of board service in the Sydney Theatre Company and the Australian Ballet, will become deputy chair.

Rachael Coghlan has been reappointed as a board member. Also joining the board in July will be Liz Nield, former director of external relations at the National Portrait Gallery, government financial officer Craig Dalzell and Richard Evans, managing director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and chair of the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals, a familiar face from his executive years with Bell Shakespeare and the Australian Ballet.

In marked contrast, three of the outgoing board members, chair Helen O’Neil, Genevieve Jacobs and Michael Sollis, were active figures in the local region cultural scene.

All the new appointments, ACT Arts Minister Michael Pettersson says, follow a merit-based selection process, but it is notable that some have weak links to the Canberra cultural community.

Their very strong interstate links, however, may serve the CFC as it looks to a new lyric theatre and strengthened gallery presence.

The Cultural Facilities Corporation is an ACT government statutory enterprise to manage the region’s top cultural facilities, including the Canberra Theatre Centre and the Canberra Museum + Gallery.