In 2015, the British Art Network received funding from Arts Council England to establish for the first time a group dedicated to emerging curators.
The first group, called the Early Career Curators Group, were active from autumn 2015 to winter 2017. All the members were based at regional and national institutions located around the UK.
The nine members attended six Continuing Professional Development sessions to share experiences and thinking around British Art. As well as meetings at Tate and discussions with Tate curators, they met senior curators and directors from Tate national partners including Nottingham Contemporary, The Whitworth and The Hepworth Wakefield, and had visits to The Hepworth Wakefield, Dundee Contemporary Arts and The McManus, and the Royal Academy of Arts. Alongside peer-to-peer activities and exploring curatorial case studies, two sessions focused specifically on works on paper – a shared interest across the group – including a practical printmaking session.
Their time together culminated in the collaborative seminar Curating Now: New approaches to curating art in the UK, held at Ferens Art Gallery, Hull on 13 December 2017.
Group members’ affiliations during their time in ECG:
Rhian Addison, Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village / The Whitworth / CDP PhD Researcher (University of York and Tate)
Emalee Beddoes-Davis, Museums Worcestershire / Division of Labour
Hannah Brignell, Museums Sheffield / National Science and Media Museum
Hilary Floe, Modern Art Oxford / The Hepworth Wakefield
Olivia Heron, The Mercer Gallery / Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
Madeleine Kennedy, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art / Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums
Anna Liesching, National Museums Northern Ireland
Peter Moore, Gainsborough’s House / English Heritage
Cicely Robinson, National Horseracing Museum / Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village
