THE director the Firstsite art gallery, Matthew Rowe, has left.

Andrew Nightingale, the interim chairman of Firstsite’s board, announced Mr Rowe had decided to stand down after two years as the gallery’s director.

In a statement, Mr Nightingale said: “It has been a challenging and demanding tenure during which he has worked hard to position Firstsite as a leading contemporary arts organisation.

“He talked recently about Firstsite being at a crossroads and after much consideration has decided it is time for him to move on and enable the organisation to grasp new opportunities and initiatives.

“Together with the board, I offer my sincere thanks to Matthew for his commitment and hard work.

“There have been many struggles – some of which are ongoing – but we have also witnessed some encouraging work with many community-based partnership projects, participation within the Plus Tate network and support for the Essex Network of Artist Studios.”

Mr Rowe joined Firstsite in November 2012 and said he wanted the gallery to become “a real beacon for the Eastern region” which achieved a sense of civic pride within Colchester.

However, it continued to have problems.

Earlier this year, the Arts Council scrapped its three-year grant of £2.4million due to continuing concerns about its sustainability.

Instead, it allocated £814,000 for the year and said the gallery had to reach a series of “rigorous milestones" including a new business plan to get longer term funding.

Mr Rowe, speaking in February, admitted mistakes had been made but said work had begun to introduce changes.

Firstsite is also funded by Colchester Council to the tune of £143,000 a year with £100,000 a year coming from Essex County Council.

Tim Young, councillor responsible for culture at Colchester Council, said Firstsite had to get it right.

The council owns the building and Mr Young said: “Firstsite has become a priority.

“If we don’t get it right this time, the writing may well be on the wall.

“If we don’t make it work as an arts facility, the council maywell end up with a liability on its hands.

“We need to get people through the door.

“I think Firstsite can learn from what we have done at Colchester Castle.

“We want to make it a building which has modern art, but somewhere you can have fun and take the family.

“It has to be a community building for everyone.

“We are working hard with the Arts Council and the county council and have had a number of constructive meetings.

“It has taken up a lot of time but I am determined to make it work.”

Mr Young paid tribute to Mr Rowe, saying: “I would like to thank Matthew for all the efforts he has put in over the past couple of years, over what has been a difficult time.

“I think both sides thought it was time to move on to the next chapter.

“It is a mutual decision.

Matthew has done a lot of good things and we need to thank him for that.

“I don’t want to take away from the good he has done but both sides feel it is a new chapter and that has to be written by someone else.”

A new interim director is due to be announced in the next week.

! Mr Young is standing in the forthcoming Colchester Council elections and for the Clacton constituency in the general election.

Other candidates in the Clacton election are Douglas Carswell (Ukip), David Grace (Lib Dem), Chris Southall (Green) and Giles Watling (Conservative).