The director of the Kent art gallery which features on the £20 bank note and hosted the Turner Prize has been named as the new boss of Plymouth’s £47million The Box cultural attraction.
Victoria Pomery will be stepping down as director of Turner Contemporary, in Margate, in the autumn, after 19 years in post and the gallery’s first 10 years of operation.
Ms Pomery oversaw the capital project which delivered the David Chipperfield-designed building on the town’s seafront and was awarded an OBE for her services to the arts in 2012 and an honorary doctorate from University of Kent in 2020.
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She has led an internationally renowned programme of exhibitions and commissions which have gained high-profile press coverage, establishing a creative and exciting reputation for Turner Contemporary.
She will museum, gallery and archive since 2014, but was always intended to quit once the attraction was fully open.
Ms Pomery said: “I have been so lucky to work with so many incredible artists, organisations and individuals over the years. Having seen first-hand the impact that art can make on people and places I am looking forward to taking the work at The Box forward at a critical and exciting time for the organisation.
“Turner Contemporary is a fantastic institution with a dynamic chair and board of trustees, a talented senior leadership team and staff group, and Margate is a very special place. I feel privileged to have been part of its first incredible decade and look forward to seeing the gallery’s next phase of development.”
Under Ms Pomery’s leadership Turner Contemporary received 3.6million visits and generated more than £70million for the local economy.
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The building is now widely recognised as the first contemporary building to feature on a 海角视频 bank note. The gallery also built relationships across the community and worked with more than 100,000 children and young people to offer them access to high-quality creative learning opportunities.
Each year, about 6% of visits come from individuals who had never been to a museum or gallery before. The gallery has exhibited the work of more than 2000 artists and in 2019, it hosted the world- famous Turner Prize.
The Box has been and the largest multi-disciplinary arts and heritage space in the South West.
Its innovative design transformed three historic city centre buildings to create a cutting-edge, interactive cultural centre with 13 new galleries and exhibition spaces and a striking “archive in the sky”.
With major investment from Plymouth City Council, Arts Council England and National Heritage Lottery Fund, The Box is a hub for education and learning and a new cultural attraction for the city, as well as home to six nationally important collections.
The venue’s critically acclaimed opening programme, including works by internationally renowned artists Antony Gormley, Leonor Antunes and Christopher Baker, set the tone for Plymouth’s ambition as an important new centre for historic and contemporary art.
The Box’s 2021 programme includes Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America, which sits alongside the venue’s ground-breaking Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy exhibition to tell a shared transatlantic history.
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Nicholas Serota, chair of Arts Council England, said: “As the founding director of Turner Contemporary, Victoria has demonstrated what can be achieved when a gallery commits to an adventurous programme and sets out to serve its local community.
“Her contribution to the arts and to Margate, has been boundless. I am delighted that she will now bring her skills and experience to The Box, the exciting new museum, gallery and archive in Plymouth.”
Cllr Nick Kelly, leader of Plymouth Conservative Group, said: “It was a huge achievement to launch The Box in the middle of a global pandemic and visitors’ early reactions are extremely positive.
“With Victoria’s success using culture as a catalyst for place-based regeneration; driving economic growth, raising aspirations and improving community cohesion, we are incredibly excited that she will take The Box forward as a centre for creativity and a major cultural attraction for Plymouth and the South West.”
Cllr Tudor Evans, leader of Plymouth Labour Group, said: “Victoria’s passion for connecting local communities with culture will allow us to build on The Box’s early success and ensure local audiences and visitors take the venue to their heart. Her impressive track record in working with contemporary artists of international renown fits perfectly with the city’s ambitions.”