Cathy Wills is an art historian, contemporary art collector, curator and has been a supporter and advocate for artists for more than 40 years.

Cathy began her career in the visual arts in the 1970s where she was involved with the founding of ArtLaw, the first UK legal service for artists. She was the founding Director of Lewis Johnson Gallery between 1978 and 1984, which was one of the first London galleries to exhibit video, installation and feminist artists. Cathy sat on the founding Board of Cornerhouse Art Centre in Manchester (currently HOME) for 20 years. Cathy established Partnership Arts, a public art organisation funded by the Arts Council. During this time she also served on the Visual Arts Panel of the North West Arts Board. 

Since then Cathy has supported established British and international museums and independent artists. She founded the Cecil Lewis Sculpture Scholarship in 2007 at University for the Arts London which supports postgraduate studies for sculpture students. As a Trustee for the Contemporary Art Society (CAS) she funds the Cathy Wills Sculpture Fund and initiated the CAS Collections Fund which since 2015 has developed into the CAS Collections Fund at Frieze.

Cathy is the current Acting Chair and has been a Non-Executive Director of Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre since 2013.

She is a Trustee of BFAMI. For the past 17 years she has curated their fundraising auctions annually. She is also a Global Ambassador of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Cathy is an active member of the V&A’s Photographs Acquisitions Group where she advises on and supports the acquisition of new work for the expanded Photography Centre.

She is a Patron of the National Gallery, National Art Fund, South London Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Camden Art Centre and Artangel.

To find out more about the individual institutions Cathy is involved in, go to Institutions or click logos below to be directed to the respective websites.