Andrew Clifford named as new director of Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery

Andrew Clifford is coming to Whanganui from the Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery. Photo / Supplied

Andrew Clifford has been revealed as the new Sarjeant Gallery director.

He is currently the director of Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery and will join the Sarjeant officially next March.

Clifford said he was honoured to join the team at an important moment in its history.

“The current redevelopment will be an incredible upgrade on what is already one of the most beautiful gallery buildings in Aotearoa,” Clifford said.

“Whanganui is fast establishing a reputation for the buzz of its established creative community and has become a go-to destination for artists looking for an interesting place to live.

“The relaunch of the Sarjeant will highlight this even further, so who could resist the opportunity to be part of the development of this vibrant scene?”

The gallery’s former director Greg Anderson resigned in September after 15 years in the role to become the deputy director of operations at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.

Whanganui District Council’s general manager of community and customer experience, Marianne Cavanagh, said Clifford would bring a valuable mix of skills and experience to his new role.

The role of Sarjeant director was “a critical appointment”.

“The Sarjeant’s importance has been further underlined by Whanganui’s recent designation as a Unesco City of Design and the significant support the gallery’s redevelopment has received from central government, along with the extraordinary fundraising efforts of the Sarjeant Gallery Trust,” Cavanagh said.

“We have also recently seen the stunning outcome of iwi co-design and co-governance supporting the development of the new wing, Pātaka o Sir Te Atawhai Archie John Taiaroa.”

Clifford was previously curator and acting director at the University of Auckland’s Centre for Art Studies, where he helped manage the Gus Fisher Gallery and art collection.

From 2002–2007 he produced music programmes for RNZ, preceded by 10 years at 95bFM.

He holds an MFA from the University of Auckland and is a trustee of the Len Lye Foundation.

“The Sarjeant Gallery’s programme, which is a reflection of its unique historic collection and the associated local art scene, has a strong emphasis on craft and design, particularly glass and ceramics,” he said.

“In my current role at Te Uru, we have a similarly broad approach to the arts, especially through our ceramics programmes, and so I look forward to further developing these strengths in response to the special dynamics of Whanganui.”

Cavanagh said Clifford’s experience opening Te Uru in a new purpose-built facility was perfectly matched to the next steps for the Sarjeant - seeing the redevelopment through to completion, overseeing the transition from the gallery’s temporary premises to the new, earthquake-strengthened and re-envisaged gallery and establishing the Sarjeant as an exciting new destination for the local community and visitors.