Hazel Edwards

Hazel leads the delivery of the Let’s Create 10-year strategy across the South East area and strategic investment to make real impact for the arts, from Brighton to Cambridge, working with grass-roots organisations to cultural icons. She is committed to making culture and arts education accessible for all with a career spanning the university and the cultural sectors in three regions – the North East, the South West and most recently, the South East. Before joining Arts Council England in 2021, Hazel led research in arts, humanities and education at Durham University and the University of the West of England Bristol, where she was Associate Dean for Research & Innovation. She originally trained as a history curator at Leicester University and worked in museums and art galleries in the North East for 25 years; she was the first woman to lead Discovery Museum, the large science and industry museum in Newcastle upon Tyne. She has extensive experience of board membership including Director and Deputy Chair of Bristol Ideas. She sat on the Museums Association Board for three years and in 2015 she became a Fellow of the Museums Association in recognition of her contribution to the sector. Her wide experience of universities, local authorities and the arts drives her commitment to developing dynamic regional cultural ecologies.