From August 2025, Ted Fenton will be the new Secretary of Stadscuratorium Amsterdam. He will take over from Nils van Beek, who has stepped down after a year and a half as Secretary.
Ted Fenton is a sociologist, researcher and writer. He previously worked at the University of Amsterdam as a Junior Lecturer in Sociology and at RadarAdvies as adviser, where he supported municipalities in societal challenges. In addition to being an Amsterdammer, Ted is also a Londoner and worked in the British capital at the Creative Industries Federation on the positioning of art and culture within government policy.
Fenton: “As an avid walker, I enjoy passing by the various works of art in the city. For me, it’s a moment when I look up and pause for a moment. Art in public spaces can not only deepen our visual experience, but also our social and emotional one. In everyday spaces, it can give expression to the essential things in life.
That is also what makes it so typical of Amsterdam. Here, art in public spaces has always been more than just decoration. It provides an opportunity for encounters, friction, conversation and personal reflection. Works of art and the spaces around them are thus a crucial pivot in the urban fabric: they make Amsterdam a city that moves and lives. Public art is therefore not a non-committal decoration or the finishing touch to a project, but a serious part of how the city shapes and reinvents itself. In that light, I see Stadscuratorium Amsterdam not only as an adviser on issues of art in public spaces, but also as a guardian of public values.
I am therefore very much looking forward to contributing to its work. The city and its public space deserve advocates and advisers who can set a course towards a collection that does justice to the character of Amsterdam. It is with this conviction that I will be joining Stadscuratorim Amsterdam.”
Read his first collection story here.
SCA looks forward to the arrival of Ted Fenton and wishes Nils van Beek much success in his new role as Project Lead Art in Public Spaces at Kunstpunt Groningen.
Image: Jordi de Vetten
