Alison Bevan is Director of the RWA (Royal West of England Academy) – England's only regional Royal Academy of Art and Bristol's first art gallery. She joined the RWA in September 2013 and is now leading it through the biggest change to its spectacular purpose-built Grade II* listed building in over a century, its £3.8 million Lottery-supported Light and Inspiration project.
A Nottingham University Art History graduate, Alison spent a 14-year career in public galleries in Wales before becoming Director of Penlee House Gallery & Museum in Penzance, Cornwall, where she spent a further 14 years prior to her current role. Penlee House specialises in exhibiting the work of the Newlyn School artists, a subject on which she became regarded as an expert and has lectured in the UK, USA and France, including at the Malvern and Daphne Du Maurier Festivals.
She is a Fellow of and Mentor for the Museums Association, an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Bristol, and was Chair of the South Western Federation of Museums and Galleries from 2009 to 2012. She was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2013 New Year's Honours for services to Cultural Heritage in Cornwall.
