The Acquisitions Committee

Recommendations on purchasing innovative works of art that reflect artistic practice in Britain today are made by a changing group of external advisors to the Arts Council Collection Acquisitions Committee. 

Acquisitions are made through a committee of eight individuals. The internal members of the Acquisitions Committee are Jill Constantine (Director, Arts Council Collection), with Ralph Rugoff (Director, Hayward Gallery), and Peter Heslip (Director, Visual Arts, Arts Council England). Maria Balshaw, Director, Tate, and member of Arts Council England’s National Council, acts as Chair to the Committee.

The external advisers to the Acquisitions Committee usually include an artist, a writer, and a curator, and are appointed for a fixed two-year tenure. They make recommendations on purchasing innovative works of art that reflect artistic practice in Britain at the present time. There is also an external advisor from one of the Arts Council Collection’s partner galleries; this position is for one year only.

The external advisers to the Acquisitions Committee for 2017–18 are: artist Anthea Hamilton; Brian Cass, Head of Exhibitions at Towner Gallery; Helen Legg, Director of Spike Island, Bristol; and writer and curator Morgan Quaintance.