Claire Doherty

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

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 English gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1877. Ikon was se ...

in Birmingham and FACT 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' wo ...

' first UK public project ''Sanctum'' in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

;

Philip Hoare Philip Hoare (born Patrick Kevin Philip Moore, 1958) is an English writer, especially of history and biography. He instigated the Moby Dick Big Read project. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton and Leverhulme a ...

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

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

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

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. She was Director of

Arnolfini Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...

, 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'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. Established in 2002, it is committed to supporting international contemporary visual artists whose work engages with social reality and lived experien ...

, 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) is a theatre company known for its large-scale site-specific productions and its grassroots work with diverse Welsh communities. It is the English-language national theatre of Wales, and refers to Theatr Genedlaet ...

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.

Selected publications

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References

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