Sydney’s Carriageworks Hires Blair French
The international search for the next leader of Carriageworks in Sydney has ended with the appointment of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s New Zealand-born Blair French as the inner city arts precinct’s new chief executive officer. Linda Morris reports on the selection of French, who takes up the position in August, for the Brisbane Times.
French, an arts administrator and curator, previously held roles at the Australian Centre for Photography as programme manager, Performance Space as associate director and Artspace as executive director, Morris writes for the newspaper.
At the Museum of Contemporary Arts (MCA) French has been responsible for the development and delivery of the museum’s artistic and digital programs as well as management of its collection. He curated the MCA’s component of The National 2017: New Australian Art exhibition.
Museum of Contemporary Arts director Liz Ann Macgregor said she was thrilled for French. “It’s a great step for him into a CEO role. He has made a tremendous contribution to shaping the MCA post-expansion and we will miss him but we look forward to continuing to collaborate with him on initiatives such as The National.”
Chair of Carriageworks Sam Mostyn said she was impressed with French’s passion for the capacity of creative practices to “change the lives of individuals and the vitality of communities’”.
“Blair has had a distinguished career across the arts sector, having held leadership positions at four of Sydney’s key contemporary arts organisations, playing major roles in the maturing of their business operations, the extension of their national and international reputations through innovative programming and extensive relationship building, and their development of audiences across a wide spectrum of artistic practices.”
Living close to Carriageworks, French said the art and performance space was “part of my everyday life, feeds my imagination and acts as a crucial hub in my experience of creative and socially engaged Sydney communities”.
Original article by Linda Morris, Brisbane Times, May 23, 2019.
Photo by Daniel Boud.
