Creative Director

In 2027 the Bluecoat marks its centenary as the UK’s first arts centre. With the anniversary year already set in motion, the Creative Director will join at a pivotal moment – building on the momentum to help refine, complete and deliver the programme. This marks the start of your journey with us and sets the foundation from which you will lead the future artistic vision of Bluecoat as we move into the next century. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help shape a nationally significant cultural moment, and to define what an arts centre can be in the twenty-first century.

We are looking for a Creative Director who will provide a compelling artistic vision that brings to life the values of the Bluecoat: someone with creative authority, producing capability and collaborative instinct. The Creative Director can be from a multi-art form ensemble background, or a singular art form – the most important qualities being that you will bring innovation, challenge assumptions, inspire teams and shape a sustainable cultural narrative that resonates long beyond the anniversary year.

In the Centenary year – A Century of Breaking New Ground – the Creative Director will shape the overarching creative framework within which the individual programming strands cohere. They will ensure that the centenary becomes a genuine artistic statement – not a fireworks display, but an honest, artistically ambitious exploration of what an arts centre can be today and in the future. Harnessing the anniversary year as a catalyst for renewal and reinvigoration, the Creative Director will establish a creative vision that empowers artistic ambition and connects with diverse audiences through bold and inclusive programming.

The Bluecoat is Liverpool’s centre for the contemporary arts — a bustling cultural venue that sees 700,000 visits each year. Housed in Liverpool’s oldest city centre building, a Grade I listed former charity school built in 1716–17, the Bluecoat combines a regular programme of exhibitions, live events, workshops and discussions across visual art, music, dance, literature and other artforms with a community of creative retailers, working artists’ studios, a café, and a garden. The building’s history is intertwined with Liverpool’s story as an Atlantic port. The merchants who founded the school derived much of their wealth from maritime trade, including the transatlantic slave trade. The arts centre has increasingly addressed this colonial legacy through critical programming and research — an engagement that reflects our commitment to telling uncomfortable truths alongside celebrating achievements. The century as an arts centre contains remarkable history. The building has hosted Stravinsky, Michael Nyman, Doris Lessing, Jeremy Deller’s Acid Brass, and countless experimental performances. Equally significant is the incubation work, many organisations such as Liverpool Arab Arts Festival and precursor organisations to FACT developed at Bluecoat from small initiatives into independent entities

Image credit: Via Bluecoat Website