24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage
Gateway to Over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions
Skip to navigation
MGM 2008 - A Museum of Me - Caroline Collier
Caroline Collier is Director of Tate National. In this role, she develops the gallery's national and international strategies and leads their implementation, as well as overseeing research and education programmes.
Before joining Tate in 2005, as Head of National Initiatives, she was Director of Bristol's Arnolfini, and headed the restoration of the De La Warr Pavilion in East Sussex.
Image: a picture of Caroline Collier
Caroline Collier, Head of National Initiatives, Tate. Photo: Mark Simmons Photography
Is there an object or work of art that has inspired you, encouraged you to work in a different way or given you a great idea?
There are so many, all the time. Works of art are a replenishment and they surprise and jolt me out of habitual perceptions.
One work - today I will choose Whistlejacket by George Stubbs. An exhibition is about to open at York Art Gallery focussing on this compelling painting from the collection of the National Gallery.
Image: a painting of a chestnut horse rearing on its hind legs
George Stubbs, Whistlejacket. © National Gallery London
I love the fierce delicacy of the horse (he was difficult to handle, apparently) and the qualities of the picture - the way it is painted, the colour and plainness of the background. The white of the horse's eye is showing and his lip is tense. He is wary.
It is as if Stubbs may imagine people from the horse's perspective, as predators. This captive horse, with his silky skin and metal shoes, has something of the look of the horses attacked by lions that the artist painted. The wildness and beauty of Whistlejacket, a valuable possession, gives me courage when I might feel dulled by duty or compromise.
And the picture, for me, questions the philosophy of ownership and the supremacy of human beings. But art inspires, it doesn't preach.
Can you name a person who has inspired you?
Joanna Drew, former Director of Art at the Arts Council and Director of the Hayward Gallery was an inspiration for her combination of human warmth, kindness and intense professionalism. Her example makes me try to do my best at work and in life.
Image: Black and white portrait of a seated woman in a dress
Joanna Drew. Courtesy Arts Council England
Which ideas or creations in your work are you most proud of? This can be something really significant or quite minor.
I gain pleasure when I see people doing really well and feeling confident and excited to tackle new ideas. So I try to create opportunities at work for this kind of thing to happen; not always successfully, of course.
Image: Photo of a gadget that is like a large mobile phone with keyboard and big screen
A Blackberry
Can you think of any current innovations (in science, technology, art etc.), which have had an impact on your life?
My Blackberry, I am afraid!
Tell us what you think. We would like you to use our simple Storymaker editing tool to tell us what you'd put in a museum of me. We will be selecting some of the most interesting examples and publishing them next to the expert’s views during MGM 2008.
Go back to the Museum of Me index page
E-news registration
E-mail story to a friend
Tell us what you think
Mark Leckey Scoops £25,000 And The 2008 Turner Prize
Library Thief Update: Sentencing Adjourned Until January 16, 2009
Fund Aims To Realise Long Campaign For Cardiff Museum
Britglyph Art Campaign Uses Web To Make Mass Geoglyph
Inaugural Awards Ceremony Honours UK Arts Philanthropists
Rare Silver Cup Commemorating Coronation Of Charles II Is Saved For The Nation
London Fire Brigade Museum Escapes Closure - For Now
Another Busy Year For Archaeology On Orkney In 2008
Severndroog Castle To Be Restored Thanks To Lottery Grant
Campaign To Save Captain Scott's Hut Needs Another £65,000
Open Air Lab Project Launches At The Natural History Museum
Gravity Defying Vertical Racer Drives Kids Up the Wall At MOSI
DCMS And English Heritage List Seven London Bridges
Railway Museums Launch Joint WWII Railway Worker Project
Bowes Museum Famous Mechanical Swan Goes Back On Show In December
Free Admission To Historic Scotland Sites For St Andrew's Day
Fund Raising Scheme Is Backing Great North Museum: Hancock
Tyneside Gallery Plots New Display After Funding Victory
Search this site
Home Page
News Page
Exhibition Page
What's On
Trails Page
Website of the Week
Letters Page
Welsh Home
Graphical Version
Copyright © 24 Hour Museum
Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.