Maria Balshaw steps down as director of Tate after nine years | culture

Maria Balshaw will step down as director of the Tate in 2026, after a challenging nine-year tenure when she led the organization through the Covid-19 pandemic and had to deal with fluctuating attendance figures and financial instability.

Balshaw, who joined as director in June 2017 after a celebrated spell as leader of Whitworth in Manchester, said it had been an honor to serve as director but now was the time for her to move on.

She said: “With an increasingly large and diverse audience, and with a fantastic future planned, I feel that now is the right time to pass the baton to the next director. My greatest passion has always been working closely with artists, so it is fitting that the Tracey Emin exhibition is my final project at the Tate.”

Balshaw was described as a “pioneer” by the Tate’s president, Roland Rudd, who said she “never wavered from her fundamental belief – that more people deserve to experience the full richness of art, and that more artists deserve to be part of that story.”

Balshaw had the unenviable task of taking over from the long-serving director, who founded Tate Modern 25 years ago and is now president of Arts Council England.

She has overseen many successful projects, including Steve McQueen’s ‘Third Year’ – when the artist took a ‘group school photo’ of 76,000 seven- and eight-year-olds from across London.

Group shows, including Women in Revolution and Life Among the Islands, highlighted previously marginalized artists, something Balshaw was proud of, while there were major shows by Leigh Bowery and Emily Kam Kngwarray.

The director also criticized arts organizations that receive sponsorship from fossil fuel companies. “The public have moved into a position that they believe is inappropriate,” Balshaw said, adding that Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, which has struck a £50 million deal with BP, will have to deal with “public dismay” over sponsorship. Tate dropped its deal with BP in 2016.

There have also been some high-profile scandals, including in 2022 when The Guardian revealed that the organization paid a six-figure settlement to two artists after they alleged discrimination, abuse and harassment.

Balshaw inherited a large multi-site organization with four sites across the UK with high operating costs, all of which were severely affected by the pandemic.

There were further redundancies in 2020, with Tate trying to save £4.8m during the coronavirus lockdown. This year, Tate announced it would cut 7% of its workforce in an effort to reduce a funding shortfall caused by the pandemic.

Employees represented by the PCS union recently went on strike over pay and conditions, and industrial action could continue until 2026.

Figures released in March showed that Tate Modern and Tate Britain had seen a 27% drop in attendance since 2019 – although, as Balshaw said in a letter to The Guardian, 2019 was the Tate’s most successful year ever in terms of visitor numbers.

The Tate Modern, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, welcomed more than 76,000 people over its birthday weekend — which insiders hope will signal a rebound in 2025.

The National Gallery’s expansion and change in its collection policy to include modern art was also seen as a threat to the Tate by some prominent figures, although Balshaw welcomed the move.

Tate said the search for a new leader would begin soon. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Tate Museum Trustees will oversee the process, with the Prime Minister eventually signing off on the appointment.

Balshaw said she looks forward to working on Tracey Emin’s show in early 2026, and will focus on collaborating with artists and her writing.