Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga – Hastings City Art Gallery has created a new leadership role and is looking for a talented curator to step up into it.

The Gallery, which opened in the 1980s as an exhibition centre, has since established itself as a vibrant home for national and international contemporary art in Hastings city centre. The Gallery has undergone an internal transformation in recent months, being grouped in with Hastings’ District Council’s other arts and culture facility, Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre, under award-winning Arts & Culture Manager, Megan Peacock Coyle.

Ms Peacock Coyle says the Gallery is in an exciting phase of its life, looking to build on its strong foundation, and the new role of Gallery Manager offers an exciting opportunity for up-and-coming and established curators or gallery managers looking for the next step in their career.

“We’re really excited that as a small regional gallery, we can be a key part of the wider arts ecosystem in offering new managers the opportunity to be mentored from within the industry, with a strong management support system in place, which will in turn set them up for future success as directors at other larger institutions,” she says.

“We know that the step from curator to gallery manager or director can be a big one, which is why our strategy is to create developmental opportunities for our national industry. We’ve recently reorganised our structure to ensure the new Gallery Manager will have plenty of support and training opportunities.”

Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga maintains a strong relationship with its local community, particularly through the fine arts courses at both Eastern Institute of Technology and Toimairangi School of Māori Visual Art, and Ms Peacock Coyle says they want someone who will focus on maintaining and building on those relationships.

“Our arts and culture facilities are very community-centred. We’re very fortunate that Heretaunga has a strong legacy in the arts, with many highly acclaimed artists having whakapapa here - from the likes of Rita Angus and Sandy Adsett to Ayesha Green and Israel Tangaroa Birch. So, it’s an exciting opportunity for someone to come in and tell our local stories, both old and new, through visual arts.”

The Gallery is also preparing for a large-scale renovation project in the coming years, so there’s plenty of great stuff to come for the right person who chooses to be part of it.

“We’re really excited to have some fresh eyes and a fresh curatorial vision to help us take Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga into the future and fulfil the potential we all know it has.”

Applications close on June 5.

Head to seek.co.nz for more info.

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