Jacqueline Ridge

Jack has worked with a number of major arts and educational organisations in Scotland, England and the US, with over 30  years of experience in both the private and public sector. Prior to taking up her current post  as Director of Conservation and Collections Management at the National Galleries of Scotland in 2006,  Jack  gained a degree in chemistry from King’s College, London  leading to a career path as a paintings conservator in the US working at Harvard and Worcester Art Museum and then onto the National Museums Liverpool and  Tate in London.

She  has a passionate interest in the philosophy of collection care as a facilitator for sharing collections, and strongly believes that the power of art and the creative process to  benefit society in the 21st century must be available to all.  The special relationship with the creative process that being a conservator brings is an ongoing fascination and has prompted publications on the  works of the Pre-Raphaelites, John Singer Sargent and Howard Hodgkin amongst others. She is a fellow of the International Institute for Conservation, Trustee of the National Heritage Science Forum  and sits on the advisory board for Art360 Scotland. With a passion for the outdoors Jack (with her fab dog George)  gets out of the city when she has the time –  heading out for the remoter parts of the countryside and indulging a growing fascination  for fly fishing.