Gill Hedley was curator in the city art galleries of Bristol, Newcastle upon Tyne and Southampton before organising exhibitions for the British Council – from Francis Bacon in Moscow to Richard Hamilton at the Venice Biennale. Then, as director of the Contemporary Art Society for 13 years, she oversaw lottery-funded Special Collection Schemes enabling 21 museums to access £4.5 million to develop collections through purchases, travel and networking.

Since 2006, she has been independent, advising museums and artists; serving on boards; organising exhibitions and writing strategies. Now she writes books full-time, on church-building after 1815 to the lives of art collectors Arthur Jeffress, Lady Norton and Palladian architect Henry Flitcroft. She is a member of the Art Monthly Foundation board.