Goodwood: “contemporary art in the most stunning of natural settings”

Assistant curator Eleanor Clarke said: “I was hired maybe four months before opening so I was most involved in the delivery rather than the long-term planning, but I know it’s incredible the way that it all came together. I remember on my first day visiting the site it was like a building site but then it all came together beautifully, and what really amazed me was to see the vision become a reality, just through everyone pulling together.”

Eleanor endorses the words of consultant curator Ann Gallagher: “She said that all the artists deserve congratulations and thanks for taking a leap of faith. At the point that they were engaged it was a building site so it really has been wonderful to see this faith and this trust in the vision from the key players.

“And I would say that we have already achieved what we set out to do. We are wanting to curate a unique offering in the cultural landscape of the UK, somewhere where there is a real synergy between the art and the environment. Dan Pearson with the landscape and Ann have really thought about the presentation of the works.

“Another big pillar of the foundation is education. There’s been a lot of planning and it is really taking off. We’ve been getting schoolchildren through the doors and now we have family art clubs every Thursday in August. There will be a lot of creative activities for the younger members, and it is real privilege to see all these plans come together.

“One of the great things about being involved in the delivery was that I could get really stuck into the install, and it was great. At the opening, all of the artists were in attendance and it was really lovely to see them so positive, both about the experience and about the presentation of their work. They were thrilled to see their work being shown in the best possible light. And actually we had an amazing selection of women artists. Gender was not the main issue but there was a great number of women artists involved which was great.

“In terms of the rhythm of the year as we work ahead, there will be two exhibition seasons. The vision is coming into play now. Ann and I have a very collaborative relationship. She has been an incredible mentor so far. We’ve been able to discuss so much already.

“The summer season is very much in place and it will effectively be from the spring until the end of October/beginning of November, and then in the winter we want to keep people coming in whatever the weather so the idea will be to pull our audiences much more indoors to focus on the galleries. In the winter it will be a lot more flexible in terms of what we do but in the summer I imagine we will continue with the inaugural format of one big headline artist” – around which they are also showing around eight other artists.

Part of the site is where Cass Sculpture was but the Art Foundation has been extended to three times the size, with a switch in emphasis from being a sculpture park to being much more an outdoor gallery.