The role of art in regeneration
The Director of Tate Liverpool will be speaking at our Future Cities Forum in February at RIBA North, Helen Legg was appointed as the new director last summer and is a key figure in the arts and cultural regeneration of the city.
Formerly Director of Spike Island, Bristol, since 2010, she focused on giving opportunities to emerging artists and developed an ambitious exhibitions programme, giving the city a leading role in the visual arts in the South West, attracting new audiences and funders. Previously she was Curator at Ikon Gallery, based in a former factory building in Digbeth, Birmingham, an industrial area of the city from 2005.
With almost two decades of curatorial expertise, having worked extensively with British and international contemporary artists, including Hedwig Houben, Anthony McCall, Haroun Mirza, Tatzu Nishi, Laure Prouvost, Cally Spooner and Gillian Wearing, she has built impressive relationships in the UK and abroad.
Helen has written about contemporary art for a wide range of publications and journals and is currently an external advisor to the Arts Council England South West Area Council. She was part of the selection committee for the British representations at the Venice Biennale 2017. She was also a judge for the Turner Prize and the Contemporary Art Society's Museums Award.
She gained an MA in History of Art from the University of St Andrews in 1996 and an MA in Curating & Commissioning Contemporary Art in 2002 from the Royal College of Art. She completed the Chief Executive Programme of National Art Strategies, hosted by Harvard Business School and Michigan Business School in April 2015.