David Garratt
Interim Head of Operations and Visitor Services - The Hepworth Wakefield
I have been working at The Hepworth Wakefield since October 2022 and I am currently the interim Head of Operations and Visitor Services.
I oversee the operations of the building and manage the visitor facing team at the gallery. I also head our Environmental Sustainability Group so am looking at ways to reduce the carbon emissions of the gallery going forwards.
I have been working in the arts since leaving university in 2005. I have progressed from working in visitor facing roles into areas such as programming, development, sales, outreach and marketing.
During my seven years at Square Chapel Arts Centre in Halifax I was one of the team that managed the £6.6 million pound redevelopment of the venue and introduced and managed a film programme that welcomed thousands of people a year. I also introduced the first film festival at the venue and welcomed guests such as Chris Morris, Brian Blessed, Clio Barnard, Kay Mellor and even Paul Chuckle.
I have also worked in independent events programming with an aim of all of the events being carbon neutral. I have worked with various companies to offset emissions as part of live events and am increasing working in this sector.
I enjoy playing my part in encouraging interaction with the arts in the live and visual arts sectors and am interested in both operational and event programming opportunities.
I once sent my own signed photo to 100 celebrities to see if they would swap with me. I now have over 400 autographs of various different people in my house!
I had a dream to screen Flash Gordon with a Brian Blessed Q&A and Queen tribute act and somehow I made it happen!
I have already worked with Chris Morris on a few events and its hard to top that!
