Maria Balshaw, the pioneering first woman to lead the Tate galleries in its 128-year history, has announced she will step down from her role this spring. Balshaw, 55, revealed her decision to leave on what she calls a ‘high note’, concluding a near-decade tenure defined by a powerful focus on elevating female artists.
A Decade of Championing Women Artists
Appointed in June 2017, Balshaw’s leadership has been marked by a consistent mission to bring women artists to the fore. In an interview for The Independent’s Like This Love This podcast, she stated that her departure coincides with the ‘fruition’ of this journey, highlighted by a year celebrating women in art. Her final act as director will be co-curating ‘Tracey Emin: A Second Life’, which opens at Tate Modern in February.
Under her guidance, Tate staged landmark exhibitions dedicated to women. These included the expansive 2024 show ‘Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920’ and the groundbreaking 2023 exhibition ‘Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK’, which was the first major museum retrospective of British feminist art from 1970-1990. Balshaw described the latter as bringing together work from ‘non-elite art spaces’ to fantastic effect.
Navigating Challenges and Diversifying Tate
Balshaw’s tenure was not without significant challenges, most notably steering the institution through the COVID-19 pandemic. She also oversaw a concerted effort to diversify Tate’s collections, exhibitions, and audiences. Tate chair Roland Rudd praised her as a ‘trailblazer’ for this work.
Key initiatives included the 2019 project ‘Steve McQueen’s Year 3’, photographing 76,000 London schoolchildren, and the 2021 group show ‘Life Between Islands’, which chronicled 70 years of British Caribbean artistic life. Balshaw emphasised that the story is now changing, moving towards a period where art by women and artists of colour is rightfully recognised.
What Comes Next for Tate and Balshaw?
The search for Balshaw’s successor is now underway, overseen by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Tate trustees, with the final appointment requiring prime ministerial sign-off. The new director will inherit an organisation facing a 27% decline in attendance at Tate Modern and Tate Britain since the record-breaking year of 2019, as well as dealing with the aftermath of staff strikes over pay.
For her part, Maria Balshaw plans to focus on writing and direct collaborations with artists following her departure at Easter. Before joining Tate, she was director of the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester and the city’s director of culture.
