Daryl Karp is leaving the Museum of Australian Democracy a hive of activity

During her nine years at the helm of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, Ms Karp has often retreated to the Senate Chamber, to sit in the seat where one of the first women parliamentarians, Dorothy Tangney, sat when she was elected in 1943.

The museum has become a bustling hive of visitors and activity during her stint, but Ms Karp finds the Senate Chamber is generally a place of relative solitude, somewhere to reflect on her awesome task, and what lies ahead.

"It's just one of those really, really peaceful spaces for me," she told The Canberra Times on Friday, her last day as head of the museum.

Ms Karp will be taking over next month as director of the National Maritime Museum in Sydney - another august institution requiring a large-scale vision.

But on her last day in Canberra, she was revelling in all that had been achieved in her time there, not least being able to watch a record number of voters - more than 16,500, 6000 of those on election day - make their way into the historic building to cast their ballot.

It was a triumphant way to emerge from what has been a turbulent two years for the museum, capped by a terrifying act of vandalism in December when protesters set fire to building's historic entrance.

With the building largely restored to order, and the grand wooden doors being rehabilitated by skilled conservators, Ms Karp said the episode had, if anything, put the museum on the map, and reminded people of the building's symbolism in the nation's history.

At the time, Ms Karp wanted only to see the building filled with people once more, having seen the halls emptied by COVID.

She needn't have worried; under her watch, the museum has become a go-to for tourists, school groups and local families seeking some education entertainment for the kids.

"That was our objective, to actually make it the equivalent of a town square, to have people here to have conversations, to engage people from literally birth, with our littlies," she said.

"[Teaching them] with rights come responsibilities, then putting yourself into the shoes of others, and seeing yourself as a leader or as an active citizen, then, you know, coming back as adults. So at every stage of your life, we have something that we hope will connect with our visitors."

She's overseen 75 exhibitions and events, as well as the spending of an extra $20 million of capital funding in the past three years to maintain the glorious art deco structure that was intended as the temporary house of Parliament in Canberra's first decades.

She said the timing of the recent May election was a bonus, as was the recent appointment of Tony Burke as the new arts minister.

"The really exciting thing for me is Tony Burke was the person who appointed me to this role [in 2013], and he's now going to be my minister," she said.

"It's good to like symmetry in a building like Old Parliament House, where it's incredibly symmetrical."

READ MORE:

Her last official duty will be opening the museum's latest exhibition, Changemakers, due to open on Tuesday, which will tell the story of the generations of women who have instigated political, legislative and societal change.

She said she had enjoyed being a woman of influence herself, although it helped that she had been surrounded by enthusiastic staff.

"I came in with a vision, and I think one of the things that I bring is a lot of energy," she said.

"I don't think of myself as a changemaker as much as I think of myself as an enabler of change ... Because we've had a really big, ambitious agenda of activities, but not enough capacity to deliver that, when you've got this big idea and only a small capacity, you play to individual strengths."

She said if she left with one regret, it was not being able to get all of the museum's newly appointed patrons in the same room, or even the same country, at once.

But given said patrons are five of the country's former prime ministers, this was possibly a stretch, even for her.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.