Gloria Hoff

Gloria Hoff has seen multiple iterations of the KZNSA. She joined Council in the 1970s when it was still called the Natal Society of Arts and was operating out of 320 West Street (now Dr. Pixley Ka Seme Street). In the early 1980s, Hoff worked in the education programme at the Durban Art Gallery as a tour guide when Carol Brown was the Education Officer there. When the NSA moved to Overport City, Hoff was asked to relieve the curator, Aidan Walsh, for one afternoon a week. This grew to working at the NSA every day in the late 1980s and during this time she founded the shop and the Christmas craft fair (now named BUZZART), both of which are still in operation today. Hoff’s eye for handcrafted products with commercial appeal made the shop a popular destination for people who eschewed the ordinary. Her passion for product and people is one of the pillars of the KZNSA Shop and by extension, the success of the gallery and the café.