Claire Doherty MBE is a creative director and arts producer known for her producing and writing on place and the arts.

Career

Doherty was curator of

Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an England, English art gallery, gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Listed building, Grade II listed, neo-Gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henr ...

in Birmingham and

FACT A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

in Liverpool before becoming the founder director in 2002 of Situations, Bristol-based international arts commissioning and producing organisation. Situations' projects over a 15-year period included

Theaster Gates Theaster Gates (born August 28, 1973) is an American social practice installation artist and a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works. Gates' work ...

' first UK public project ''Sanctum'' in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

;

Philip Hoare Philip Hoare (Southampton, 1958) is a British writer, film-maker and curator. He won the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize, now known as the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, for his work ''Leviathan, or the Whale''. Early life and education Ho ...

's ''The Tale'', a multi-site, cross-artform site-specific project in

Torbay Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists of ...

; and ''One Day Sculpture'' across five cities in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. She was Director of Arnolfini, centre for contemporary arts, in

, England, from 2017–18. Doherty led the organisation through an 18-month transition following the loss of its Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status, which occurred before Doherty's arrival in 2017. The transformation included Arnolfini's most successful exhibition until then –

Grayson Perry Sir Grayson Perry (born 24 March 1960) is an English artist. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foib ...

's '' The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever!'' – and the ''Imagine New Rules'' campaign to reimagine a 21st-century arts organisation. Doherty's cross-artform programme at Arnolfini during the transition period included: Eclipse Theatre's ''Black Men Walking'', In Between Time's ''We are Warriors'', Black Girl Convention, Don't Tell Your Mother and Creative Youth Network. Doherty also oversaw the establishment of Now or Never, youth-led creative studio and two ''Inspiring Women in the Arts'' mentoring events in Bristol. Doherty was a Trustee of

Artes Mundi Artes Mundi (Latin: ''arts of the world'') is an international arts organisation based in Cardiff, Wales. Established in 2002, it is committed to supporting international contemporary visual artists whose work engages with social reality and lived ...

, Cardiff, the international biennial art exhibition and prize. She was Creative Director and Executive Director of GALWAD, for the

National Theatre Wales National Theatre Wales (NTW) was a charity and theatre company based in Wales. It was established in 2009, but following the cessation of funding in April 2024, it closed in December 2024, with its community work being carried on and evolved to ...

Recognition

In 2009, Doherty was awarded a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Breakthrough Award for Outstanding Cultural Entrepreneurs. In 2015 Doherty was appointed MBE 'For services to the Arts in South West England'. In 2018 the ''

Bristol Post The ''Bristol Post'' is a city/regional five-day-a-week (formerly appearing six days per week) newspaper covering news in the city of Bristol, including stories from the whole of Greater Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. It was ...

'' included her in its list of "The 100 most influential women in the West

f England F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...

Selected publications

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References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British women curators British art curators Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire {{UK-artist-stub