Liz Gilmore, director of Hastings Contemporary, to stand down after 14 years

HOT’s Judy Parkinson spoke to Liz Gilmore about her decision to move on after 14 years at the helm of Hastings Contemporary to become CEO at The Sherborne, a new landmark gallery in the eponymous Dorset town, in March 2025. In Hastings she established the gallery’s reputation nationally as a leading innovator of artistic interpretation and engagement.

Liz Gilmour told me, “It’s a page-turning moment and very exciting for me, but also a difficult decision – perhaps rather like an artist deciding when an artwork is complete. You recognise it when you get there. And after 14 years it is time for me to move on, and healthy actually for HC to have a change of leadership, but of course it’s a poignant moment.”

Gilmore previously held roles at Arts Council England and The National Gallery. She was the founding director of the Jerwood Gallery, as it was, when it was under construction as the ground was broken for the foundations of the new structure.

She was aware of some local opposition to the gallery’s position on the foreshore, but she dismisses the idea that she was fighting the second Battle of Hastings, as many locals and fishermen were brilliant in embracing a new cultural heritage. “14 years ago, people were naturally anxious about the unknown,” she said. Gilmore has played a key role in the regeneration of Hastings as a visitor destination and thriving creative community.

She is recognised for championing women and under-represented artists and for her vision and innovation. She has particularly fond memories of the inaugural exhibition in 2012, when Rose Wylie, then 76, curated Big Boys Sit in the Front, a retrospective consisting of 40 years’ worth of art that she had sitting at home. It broke all the rules in a defining show that propelled Wylie to subsequent shows at Tate Britain and The Serpentine.

Other exhibitions developed under Gilmore’s leadership include The Chapman Brothers’ In the Realm of the Unmentionable (2014-15), which was nominated for a Museums & Heritage Award; Paula Rego’s The Boy Who Loved the Sea and Other Stories (2017) (nominated for a Sky Arts Award); Victor Willing’s Visions, (2019); Barbara Walker’s Vanishing Point (2018-19) and Project Art Work’s Ignition residency (2021), with both the latter going on to be nominated for the Turner Prize.

Recent high-profile exhibitions include Soutine/Kossoff (2023), Nengi Omuku, The Dance of the People and the Natural World and Hurvin Anderson, Salon Paintings (both 2023/24).

Hastings has one of the country’s highest levels of deprivation and Gilmore is proud of the gallery’s community programmes that make art accessible, particularly by welcoming children, some of whom have never visited a gallery, or even the beach, before. “It was incredible to see them lying on the floor drawing and then bringing their parents to the gallery,” she said.

Gilmore weathered a few challenges, not least the Covid restrictions. “After our transition, the year prior to being a fully independent charity, the last thing I wanted was to close the doors in March 2020. But the gallery staff and trustees pulled together and broke new ground, with robots roaming the gallery spaces streaming shows internationally online. Project Art Works were able to use the spaces that were support bubble compliant and a monumental Quentin Blake show was opened by a robot.” Another first.

“What will I miss? Everything! But I am excited about plans for the new high calibre café with free access, and the potential for a second entrance making the gallery more accessible. There is a rich future with the extraordinarily talented artists Sophie Barber and Isabel Rock coming next autumn.

“This place is part of me. Throughout my time here I have been deeply grateful for the commitment and encouragement of our wonderful members, many of whom have championed and sustained the gallery from the very beginning. Hastings is a very special place, a hotspot of creativity and will always remain close to my heart.”

Immortal Apples, Eternal Eggs
21 September 2024–16 March 2025
Hastings Contemporary
Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW
Wednesday to Sunday and Bank Holidays
11am to 5pm (last entry 4.30pm)
www.hastingscontemporary.org  @hastings.contemporary

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