Maria Balshaw to leave Tate after nine ‘trailblazing’ years

Tate director MARIA BALSHAW has announced that she will pass “on the baton” of the organisation’s leadership in spring next year after a nine-year tenure.

During Balshaw’s stewardship, Tate has undertaken several major projects, including the overhaul of the outdoor space around Tate Britain’s Millbank entrance, due to be completed next year, a complete transformation of Tate Liverpool, opening in 2027, and the renovation of Barbara Hepworth’s second studio by Tate St Ives.

The organisation has also undergone recent challenges, including a one-week strike by employees who are members of the PCS union at the end of last month in protest of a below-inflation pay offer and contract terms.

The walkouts come less than nine months on from the organisation cutting around 40 roles to ensure “stability,” and after the Department for Culture, Media and Sport pledged to help it stay afloat as it attempts to move to a more sustainable business model.

An outspoken voice in the discourse around the ethics of museum sponsorship, since then, Balshaw has led the introduction of an endowment fund to secure Tate’s long-term financial security, which has secured more than £50 million in donations since its gala launch in June 2025.

Before her departure, she will curate her final project, a career-spanning exhibition in February celebrating the work of TRACEY EMIN at Tate Modern, with Balshaw describing her “greatest thrill” as being to “work closely with artists”.

“It has been an absolute privilege to serve as director of Tate over this last decade and to work with such talented colleagues and artists,” said Balshaw.

“With a growing and increasingly diverse audience, and with a brilliant forward plan in place, I feel now is the right time to pass on the baton to a next director who will take the organisation into its next decade of innovation and artistic leadership.”

Tate chair ROLAND RUDD added, “Maria has been a trailblazer at Tate. She has never wavered from her core belief – that more people deserve to experience the full richness of art, and more artists deserve to be part of that story.

“As the home of British art and of international modern and contemporary art, Tate today reflects the audiences we serve and the artists who make up our nation. We engage a wider public than ever before through our own galleries, our digital channels, and our projects in other venues across the UK and the world. Maria has my heartfelt thanks for those achievements and for all her work over the past decade”.