"It's because the next director won't need me looking over their shoulder.

"It is a little bit of a burden on the next director.

"They have to be able to make their stamp."

Sue Mitchell, director of Manning Regional Gallery is ready to step out of her role as director into retirement.

In her 16 years with the gallery, Sue has nurtured the space and art in the Manning Valley from infancy, to adolescence - leaving behind a gallery and art scene that is vibrant and rich with talent.

"When I first came here, the gallery had been at the Manning Entertainment Centre for 10 years. My first job was to move all operations from the MEC to here.

"In the beginning there were very few artists producing the standard of work that should be in a regional gallery.

"But I think over the 16 years we now have so many artists from this area who are producing high quality work, and I do think the gallery has been part of that."

As part of her role as director Sue has overseen everything to do with the art gallery, such as the exhibition program, the public program, concerts, lectures, courses and the Greater Taree City art collection - which she cites as magnificent.

However, outside her job description, Sue has played an emotional role in artists' lives.

"I think we have a role to encourage artists and give them opportunities to not only showcase their work but also generate income from their art making activity.

"A lot of this is emotional support, as artists work in isolation so much, when they come to a gallery it is often quite an emotional thing for them.

"To have an exhibition they might work for two years towards having, they need to have contact and know what they are doing is okay and that they're okay.

"There are artists in the area who produce a variety of things, and you can see one particular area they are excelling in and encourage them to go that way.

"We try if we can to enable artists to extend outside this area, so we always have exhibitions to show artists and the community what's going in the other art world outside this little place.

"We also like to show outside this place, what artists' from this area are doing."

A highlight exhibition for Sue was opening the expanded gallery space in 2007 with the Archibald Prize.

"I felt the community looked at the gallery for the first time and thought wow, we've really got a gallery that's really the standard of any other gallery."

"We've also had major exhibitions from the Australian War Memorial, the Australia Museum and the State and national art galleries."

Sue believes the Black Art White Walls exhibition that wrapped up at the gallery this week is "one of the best we've ever had."

"I think this one is important not just because it's a very beautiful exhibition, and of high standard, but because it explains a lot about Aboriginal art and teaches the community, and that's part of the role of a regional gallery."

Sue explains that at the core of the success she's had with the gallery, is the supportive network of people and community that surround her.

"I must have been born under a lucky star the day Jane Hosking came to work with me.

"She is a professional, innovative and really skilled person.

"Not long after Jane, Rachel Piercy came along and hit the place like a train with all her energy and connection with the young people of the area."

Sue also admires the dedication of Julie Slavin, Ali Haigh, Anke De Reuver, Val Clark, Peter Schouten and Barry Schlenker to the gallery.

"They've all been the core."

Supporting this core, says Sue, are the Friends of the Gallery.

"We've been able to run with a small budget and small staff, and produce programs of the standard of any regional gallery in the State and better than most, because of the Friends of the Gallery.

"Some of the things they've achieved with us as a team are extraordinary.

"Like the extension of the building - their money and support helped build this gallery out here, the workshop, storeroom, the outside exhibition space.

"We've built a gallery over the 16 years, that can facilitate all sorts of programs.

"Before we could just have little tight exhibitions, but now we can be running two exhibitions at a time, having workshops going and having a performance in the backyard."

Sue will begin her retirement by visiting her parents.

After that, "I've got so many plans I don't know which way to run first.

"My husband Lindsay and I, and my daughters Jessica and Annie have a farm up here with cattle, and that will continue to be home and there's plenty of work to do on the farm.

"But I'm very excited about plans of going to America, where I have friends who I've worked with in the past from the arts."

Tonight, Sue will attend her last exhibition opening at the gallery for Tarryn Jade Choma's The Evolution of Woman and Trish Preston's Sad Water Story, who Sue describes as "really exciting artists from this region."

As Sue walks her final steps from the gallery, she will leave behind her well wishes for its future.

"With the new director comes a new energy and I hope it doesn't stay the same.

"I hope there's lots of changes and I hope people get excited about the changes, and it brings a whole new lease of life for the gallery.

"I hope the gallery expands the events they have here.

"It's not healthy to just have exhibitions on the wall because it's not going to draw people in, in this day and age.

"You need to have events, concerts and films, things that make it an active and vibrant place."