Alistair Hardaker | Image: Emer Grant, Bluecoat.
Appointee has curated in New York and the Netherlands and sits on an Arts Council England Area Council.
The Bluecoat, England’s oldest arts centre, has appointed its first creative director.
Emer Grant, currently artistic director and CEO of Arts Collective Northampton, will join the Liverpool centre in early 2027 as the Bluecoat marks its centenary year.
Grant has been appointed to establish an artistic vision and programming model that will shape future artistic practice.
The new appointment has previously curated exhibitions, commissions and public programmes internationally with organisations including the Hessel Museum of Art and ISCP in New York, Stroom Den Haag in the Netherlands, Void Gallery in Northern Ireland and Oolite Arts in South Florida.
She currently serves on the Area Council of Arts Council England and is a steering committee member of the Contemporary Visual Arts Network East Midlands.
CEO of the Bluecoat Mary Cloake said the Grant will be “integral to the Bluecoat’s future strategy, building on the reputation and impact of our work.
Cloake said Grant has “a deep understanding of how contemporary art can contribute to civic identity, education, wellbeing and economic regeneration – all vital experience which will contribute richly to the work we do here in the heart of Liverpool.”
Grant said the role “offers an extraordinary opportunity to build on the Bluecoat’s pioneering tradition and explore what an arts centre can become, with art, artists and communities shaping its future at its core.”
