Team

Kate Davies, Director
kate@therobertsinstituteofart.com

Ned McConnell, Curator
ned@therobertsinstituteofart.com

Yates Norton, Curator
yates@therobertsinstituteofart.com

Sander Hansen, Digital and Production Coordinator
sander@therobertsinstituteofart.com

Michael Kruger, Art Technician and
Warehouse Manager
michael@therobertsinstituteofart.com

Poppy Clover, Collection Technician and Archivist
poppy@therobertsinstituteofart.com

Kate Bradbury, Collection Registrar
katebradbury@therobertsinstituteofart.com

Advisory Board

All our Board contribute their time on a voluntary basis.

Katrina Brown, Director, The Common Guild
Caroline Douglas, Director, Contemporary Arts Society
Ryan Gander, Artist
Haroon Mirza, Artist
Courtney Plummer, Director, Lisson Gallery
Ossian Ward, Content Director, Lisson Gallery
Neil Wenman, Partner, Hauser & Wirth

History

Founded in London, UK in 2007, the Roberts Institute of Art operated as the David Roberts Art Foundation (DRAF) until April 2021. Named after its founder David Roberts, DRAF was set up as a platform for artistic and critical experimentation and to share what was then known as the David Roberts Collection and is now called the David and Indrė Roberts Collection.

DRAF originally ran an exhibition space on Great Titchfield Street, central London, presenting group and solo exhibitions and hosting talks and performances. The annual Evening of Performances (2008–2019), which showcases and commissions live work by artists, musicians and choreographers, was inaugurated here. The Curators’ Series (2009–2020) was also established to support curatorial research and practices. Over its eleven-year period, DRAF invited independent curators, duos and organisations to develop and deliver thematic exhibitions with newly commissioned works.

In 2012 the organisation moved to a former 19th-century furniture factory in Camden, north London. In this larger space, DRAF supported the research, development and display of live-art practices, presented exhibitions and established a forum for discussion and knowledge sharing.

Committed to championing performance and research from the outset, between 2015 and 2017 the Camden gallery also housed DRAF Studio, which brought together and hosted in residence artists, choreographers, musicians, writers and peer organisations to discuss and develop live work and installation.

After DRAF’s ten-year anniversary, the Camden space closed in late 2017 with the aim of sharing the organisation’s programming more widely. The Roberts Institute of Art is now embarking on a new phase as we strengthen our mission to share the collection, include diverse perspectives on culture and work collaboratively with national partners.

Partners

Collaboration and partnership are central to our ethos, guiding our activities since the organisation was established in 2007.

Our collaborations include inviting external curators to develop engaging exhibitions inspired by works from the David and Indrė Roberts’ collection, co-curating exhibitions with UK museums and working with national partners to commission and showcase performance art, bringing it to audiences not only in London but also across the UK.

Previous partners include:
Art Night, London
Baylight Foundation, London
The Courtauld, London
Cranford Collection, London
Cromwell Place, London
Edinburgh Art Festival
The Fitzrovia Chapel, London
Flat Time House, London
The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation, London
Fruitmarket, Edinburgh
Glasgow International
Goldsmiths University, London
Hastings Contemporary
Hepworth Wakefield
Hestercombe Gallery, Taunton
The Hunterian, Glasgow
The Ingram Collection, UK
The Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
Mostyn, Llandudno
LUX, London
Performance Exchange, London
The Royal Academy of Music, London
Sheffield Museums
Site Gallery, Sheffield
Somerset House Studios, London
South London Gallery
St James's Church, Piccadilly
Wysing Art Centre, Cambridge

Opportunities

There are no current vacancies.

Support

Thank you to all the generous supporters and partners who make a vital contribution to our work and enable us to develop and realise the full ambition of our programme. To date, you have helped us welcome over 135,000 visitors, partner with over 100 museums and organisations and collaborate with over 1,000 artists.

We support UK and international artists at all stages of their career through our work in championing performance, commissioning new work, helping to fund production and providing a platform and visibility through exhibitions and events. We are proud to foster relationships with artists over time. Our programme has always been free and open to all and we are committed to keeping it that way.

The Roberts Institute of Art is the trading name of The David Roberts Art Foundation Limited (DRAF). DRAF is a registered charity in England and Wales (No. 1119738) and in Scotland (No. SC053450) and all donations from UK businesses qualify for corporation tax relief.

We are grateful for all kinds of support whether donations, sponsorship or in-kind contributions. If you would like to support us, please contact:

Kate Davies: kate@therobertsinstituteofart.com

Our Supporters

Galleries Circle
From 2014 to 2019, a select group of galleries generously committed to supporting our free public programme of events and performance.

Thank you to all past members of our Galleries Circle:

Goodman Gallery
Grimm Gallery
Hauser & Wirth
Lisson Gallery
The Modern Institute
Peres Projects
White Cube
Marian Goodman
Blain | Southern
Michael Werner
Sprueth Magers
Kurimanzutto
Kamel Mennour
David Zwirner
Pilar Corrias
Stuart Shave
Sadie Coles HQ
Laura Bartlett
Andrew Kreps
Gagosian

Trusts and Foundations
We are proud to have received funding from Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts for our Curators’ Series (2009–2020) and DRAF Studio (2015–2017) programmes.

We are grateful to the following organisations for their past support:
Acción Cultural Española
African Arts Trust
Ambassade de France au Royaume-Uni
Arts Council of New Zealand
British Council
British Israeli Arts Training Scheme
Camoes Institute
Canada Council for the Arts
Canada House Arts Trust
Canadian Embassy
Culture France
culture.pl
Diawa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Embassy of Israel
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Embassy of Sweden
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in London
Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation
Flemish Authorities
Fluxus
Gobierno de España
Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation
Gulbenkian Foundation
Iaspes
Institut Français
Italian Cultural Institute
Korean Cultural Centre UK
Lithuanian Cultural Institute
Mexican Embassy
Ministry of Culture of The Republic of Lithuania
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Culture and Sport in Israel
Mondriaan Foundation
Ratiu Family Charitable Foundation
Romanian Cultural Institute
Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia


Sponsorship and in-kind support
Absolut Art Bureau
Arnold & Henderson
Bakhtiyar Carpets
Block Universe
Corona
Frontier Craft Lager
Johnson Tiles
The Lowry, Manchester
Moroso
Super Bock
Thomas & Thomas LLP
Veltins Pilsener Beer


Media partners
Aesthetica
Art Review
Cura
Frieze
Kaleidescope
Mousse
Spike
this is tomorrow
White Review