Hepworth Wakefield appoints Olivia Colling and Laura Smith as co-directors

Olivia Colling and Laura Smith have been appointed as the co-directors of the Hepworth Wakefield following a long recruitment process to replace founding director Simon Wallis.

The board of the Wakefield art gallery and its major funder Arts Council England approved the pair’s application to jointly lead the organisation – with Colling taking on the specific role of executive director and Smith as artistic director.

It takes two

The Hepworth Wakefield’s decision to replace founding director Simon Wallis with two co-directors, Olivia Colling and Laura Smith, highlights how job-sharing at a leadership level is becoming more mainstream in the museum sector.

Deyan Sudjic and Alice Black were joint leaders of the Design Museum in London for 12 years until they stepped down in January 2020. Later that year, Birmingham Museums Trust appointed Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah as its joint CEOs – the pair came up with the idea of sharing the role after connecting through the Museum Detox network.

In spring 2023, the board of Cornwall Museum & Art Gallery approved a proposal to create a joint leadership structure with Jonathan Morton and Bryony Robins serving as co-directors.

The duo, who share responsibilities equally, wrote in Museums Journal at the time that “joint leadership means we’re more ambitious and creative in our thinking”.

And then, last autumn, Claudia Kenyatta and Emma Squire were appointed as joint chief executives of Historic England in a job share arrangement.

The high-profile role attracted more than 200 candidates, but Neil Mendoza, chair of the arm’s-length heritage body, said Kenyatta and Squire’s vision for the organisation would take it forward “with clarity and purpose”.

“The role of museum director is multifarious, requiring an extremely broad range of skills, experience and knowledge in order to succeed,” said Steve Langan, the chair of the Hepworth Wakefield Trust.

“Olivia and Laura brilliantly complement each other’s strengths. They demonstrated an ambitious vision for the future of the gallery, supported with a clear strategy for how they will achieve it, and a talent for inspiring their teams.

“They have proven success at fundraising and growing commercial income, are well networked locally and nationally, and are building the gallery’s reputation internationally through our expanding touring programme.

“The selection committee were excited by their ideas for the future exhibition programme, which are dynamic while being grounded in art history, ensuring Wakefield residents, and wider Yorkshire audiences can experience the very best art on their doorstep, as well as attracting audiences from around the UK and overseas. We look forward to seeing them thrive in their new roles.”

The pair have held interim leadership roles at the gallery since the departure of Wallis for the Royal Academy last September.

Colling started her career in communication roles at Tate, the Design Museum and the V&A before moving to West Yorkshire to join the Hepworth in 2015.

Smith has worked for Nottingham Contemporary, Tate and Whitechapel Gallery in curatorial roles. She joined the Hepworth in 2022.