Alan Rivett will retire after nearly two decades as Director of Warwick Arts Centre. He announced his decision to step down following confirmation of Arts Council of England’s confidence in Phase 2 of the £32 million redevelopment of Warwick Arts Centre which starts on site this autumn.

Vice-Chancellor Stuart Croft has thanked Alan for the contribution he has made to the cultural life of the University. He said:

During Alan’s tenure as Director more than 4 million tickets have been sold to a wide range of events presented by the Arts Centre.

The University is proud to have one of the nation’s cultural beacons at the heart of its campus and Alan has championed a highly regarded cultural programme alongside encouraging creative academic collaboration with activities ranging from artists in residence to nurturing traditional Chinese and Indian student orchestras.

Alan planted the early seeds which led to Coventry’s successful bid to be named 2021 UK City of Culture last December. More recently, he has led plans for a £32 Million revisioning of the Arts Centre which will introduce three new cinemas, an improved visual arts gallery and much needed enhancements of the front of house gathering spaces. With £7.5 million of external funding now committed (including £4.2 million from Arts Council England announced last week) it is fitting that the new Warwick Arts Centre will be ready to reopen in time to be one of the City of Culture’s landmark venues."

Alan says,

With these key foundations in place; our 20:20 Capital development, Arts Council support to 2022 and Coventry’s new status as UK City of Culture, I believe now is the perfect time to pass the baton on to a successor to lead Warwick Arts Centre toward 2021 and beyond in a glorious new building”.

The University expects to recruit a new Director of Warwick Arts Centre this summer.