England’s Hepworth Wakefield Names Two New Directors
34Feb. 10, 2026
The Hepworth Wakefieldin West Yorkshire, England, has namedOlivia Collingas its new executive director andLaura Smithas its artistic director. Both are natives of Yorkshire and are being promoted from within the institution. The announcement comes as the gallery, named for renowned British sculptorBarbara Hepworth, prepares to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary.
Colling joined the institution in 2015 as its director of communications and development from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where she was head of press and corporate communications. At the Hepworth Wakefield, she oversaw the commercial income-generating arm of the gallery as well as development of capital projects.
Previously a curator at London’s Tate and Whitechapel Gallery, Smith arrived to the museum in 2022 as its director of collection and exhibitions. Among the exhibitions she has recently organized are a 2025 retrospective of British sculptor Helen Chadwick, one of the first women to be nominated for the Turner Prize, and a forthcoming exhibition of the late Indian sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee, known for her work in hemp fiber.
Colling and Smith last year were appointed interim directors of the Hepworth Wakefield after director Simon Wallis left to accept a position as secretary and chief executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, London. In this capacity, the pair shepherded a successful fundraising campaign to keep Hepworth’s 1943 Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red in England after the iconic work was sold at auction to a private buyer who intended to take it overseas.