Arts Council Collection/Arts Council Management Services

Trustees

Unremunerated

The Arts Council Collection is one of the largest national collections of modern and contemporary British art in the world. For 79 years it has promoted and enriched the nation’s knowledge and appreciation of contemporary art, through touring exhibitions and loans to galleries and public buildings throughout the country, and internationally on request.

The Collection currently consists of more than 8,000 works by nearly 2,300 artists, including David Hockney, Dame Tracey Emin, Sir Antony Gormley, Yinka Shonibare, Melanie Manchot, Sir John Akomfrah and Sir Grayson Perry.

The Arts Council Collection (ACC) is at a pivotal point in its history. Previously expertly managed by Southbank Centre on behalf of Arts Council England, a new organisation, the Art Collections Management Services (ACMS), is being established to care for and share the ACC from its new Coventry home.

The new Executive Chair of ACMS, Sukhy Johal, has been appointed to lead its set-up and to transition activities from Southbank Centre. As part of the organisation’s development, ACMS is seeking up to six Trustees to assume responsibility for the development, care, stewardship, and national reach of the Arts Council Collection.

These roles will allow the Collection to grow its public impact through an ongoing programme of innovative touring exhibitions devised in close collaboration with galleries of all sizes. It will continue to support the sector via responsive, low-cost lending at a time when gallery budgets are constrained like never before. It will work with partners outside the traditional arts sector such as schools and hospitals, to bring this national collection to the widest possible range of people across the country.

Art Collection Management Services is seeking a number of Trustees with skills and experience in the following areas:

• Nationally respected visual art-form leader — a trustee with a national or international reputation in their art form, able to bring sector credibility, insight and advocacy.
• Chair of Finance and Audit Committee — a professionally qualified accountant with strong governance experience to lead Audit and Risk oversight.
• West Midlands / Coventry representative — a trustee with meaningful regional knowledge, networks or lived experience rooted in Coventry or the wider West Midlands.
• Regional gallery specialist — ideally a leader from the art gallery sector, bringing experience of public cultural institutions, community impact and working with touring partnerships.

Applications are welcomed regardless of gender, age, marital status, disability, religion, ethnic origin, political opinion, sexual orientation, or whether or not you have dependents.

Full details can be found here: https://micro.green-park.co.uk/acc/

Closing date: 11:59pm Sunday 19th April 2026

If you want to know more about the role, please contact Paddy Pamment from our Executive Search partners, Green Park by emailing: paddy.pamment@green-park.co.uk