Towner Art Gallery faces severe funding cuts

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Towner Art Gallery’s future is ‘cast into doubt’ by planned funding cuts | Eastbourne Borough Council’s proposals to reduce funding to the Towner Art Gallery could ‘jeopardise’ its future, the institution’s board chair has warned. The proposed cuts would initially slash funding to the gallery by a third, falling from an annual grant of £614,000 to £400,000, with further reductions leading to a total cut of 50 per cent planned in years to come. David Dimbleby, chairman of the Towner’s board of trustees, commented that the cuts could mean losing six out of ten exhibitions per year, thus ’putting at risk everything the Towner stands for’. The council says the cuts are necessary in order to release funds to frontline public services. A vote on the council’s proposals will take place in February.

Hilary McGrady is named director general of National Trust | The National Trust has appointed Hilary McGrady as its new director general, it was announced today. McGrady, who joined the trust 12 years ago, has served as its chief operating officer since 2013. She replaces Helen Ghosh, who after five years at the helm of the National Trust is leaving to take up a role as Master of Balliol College at Oxford University.

Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta will curate 2019 Whitney Biennial | Curators Rujeko Hockley and Jean Panetta have been tasked with co-curating the next Whitney Biennial, which will take place in 2019. Hockley joined the Whitney from the Brooklyn Museum earlier this year, while Panetta arrived from MoMA in 2010. Scott Rothkopf, the museum’s chief curator, described them as ‘two of the most compelling and engaged curatorial voices of the moment’.

Guggenheim announces Hugo Boss Prize shortlist | The Guggenheim Museum has revealed the shortlist for the 2018 Hugo Boss Prize, a biennial award that grants $100,000 and a solo show to its winner. The shortlisted artists for next year’s edition are Bouchra Khalili, Simone Leigh, Teresa Margoles, Emeka Ogboh, Frances Stark and Wu Tsang. The jury will be chaired by Guggenheim chief curator and artistic director Nancy Spector.

Van Gogh Museum hails record visitor numbers | Figures published yesterday show that Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum attracted a record number of visitors in 2017, making it the most visited museum in the Netherlands. The institution has welcomed some 2,260,000 people over the past 12 months, 90% of whom rated their experience as ‘very good’ to ‘excellent’.