London’s Horniman Museum and Gardens has named Gordon Seabright as its new chief executive, starting from next month.
Seabright has served as chief executive of Creative Land Trust, a charity tackling the loss of creative workspace for UK artists and makers, since 2020.
He previously worked for other environmental and heritage organisations, including as CEO of the Eden Project, chief executive of Cycling UK, and senior roles at the Royal Horticultural Society and English Heritage.
“What a privilege it is to join the brilliant team at the Horniman! I’m grateful to the trustees for appointing me as chief executive, and excited to begin working with my new colleagues,” Seabright said in a statement.
“The Horniman is a very special place, and we’ll be working to make it even more successful for our local communities and for national and international audiences.”
Seabright joins the Horniman as it begins its Nature + Love project, which includes creating two new visitor attractions.
“The Horniman is at the heart of the community in Forest Hill, but our relationships and reach are global,” said Michael Salter-Church, chair of the board of trustees at the Horniman.
“Gordon will help us capitalise on this sense of ‘place’ as well as attracting new visitors to see and learn about how human culture, ecology and the environment work together.”
New boss to oversee Nature + Love project
Seabright succeeds Victoria Pinnington as the Horniman’s chief executive. She has served as interim chief executive since Nick Merriman stepped down in February of this year.
Merriman, now chief executive at English Heritage, spoke about climate inaction in the museum sector at greenloop 2024 – blooloop’s conference focusing on sustainability in visitor attractions.
greenloop 2024 sessions are on demand for 30 days for ticket holders. Anyone else can contact events@blooloop.com.
Images courtesy of the Horniman Museum and Gardens
