Baltic wields axe among top staff

Jun 24 2009 by David Whetstone, The Journal

Senior jobs have been sacrificed to make Gateshead’s Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art less top heavy, as David Whetstone reports.

Mr Worsdale, formerly the founding director of Middlesbrough’s new art gallery, mima, added: “Everyone has enormous respect for what Andrew has achieved for Baltic, often under very difficult circumstances.”

As part of Mr Worsdale’s staff reorganisation, some temporary posts are to be made permanent and new ones created.

The job of senior curator, with a salary of £45,000, has already been advertised.

The successful applicant will be answerable to Mr Worsdale who has abolished the head of programme role occupied by Frenchman Jerome Sans during Mr Doroshenko’s tenure.

Eight other full-time jobs are to be advertised, including two technician roles meaning Baltic will no longer be solely reliant on freelances when big art exhibitions or installations need to be built.

Mr Worsdale, who was born in Doncaster and is Baltic’s first English director, said: “For anyone who is interested in working at Baltic this is a great time to keep an eye on newspaper adverts and on our websites where the positions will be advertised.

“We are expecting the recruitment processes to come to a close in early August and I am looking forward to having a complete Baltic team in place for the autumn.”