NEWMARKET.- Chris Garibaldi is stepping down from his role as its Director and CEO of
The National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art at Palace House in Newmarket, leaving behind a legacy of success after eight years at the helm.
Mr Garibaldi led the ambitious £19m project to build a new museum which was opened formally by Her Majesty, The Queen in November 2016. This redevelopment saw the National Horseracing Museum and the British Sporting Art Trust move from their original premises to take over the last remaining element of Charles IIs racing palace in the town. The new venue includes a national gallery of British sporting art (in Palace House), a new horseracing museum using the latest audio-visual and interactive technology to bring its collections to life and a flagship home for the Retraining of Racehorses charity which allows visitors for the first time to encounter retired racehorses as part of their experience. The project was short-listed for the Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2017. In its first year, it attracted around 30,000 visitors, and in 2018 became an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation.
Chris is going to embark on full-time study and will depart in mid-2019, once a replacement Director has been found.
He said Having ensured that the National Heritage Centre is on a firm trajectory for success, I feel now is an appropriate time to pursue my academic research interests. It has been a long-standing ambition of mine to study for a doctorate and as part of this I intend to research the history of the palaces at Newmarket, which means I will still be keeping my connection with the town and its extraordinary royal history. It has been an incredible privilege to lead the organisation over the last eight and a half years during a period of such exciting change. I am extremely proud of what has been achieved over that time by the incredibly dedicated team at Palace House and it has been an honour to have been part of such an extraordinary project.
Rachel Hood, Chair of Trustees said I would like to take this opportunity to record the Trustees and my sincere thanks for the tremendous job that Chris has done over the past eight and a half years to produce such a brilliant Museum. He has been central to the project and to so much of the fundraising which has made it possible. We all wish him well in the future and are delighted to know that his return to academia will be directly connected with researching the architectural and art historical significance of this unique site.
She added The organisation is now looking to the future and to build on our successes, so we are now looking for a new Director to continue the excellent work in realising our shared vision of The National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art at Palace House as a destination gallery, visitor attraction and a great day out.