Tate seeks new director after Balshaw's nine-year exit
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- Tate chair Roland Rudd is hunting for a new director to replace Maria Balshaw, who stepped down after nine years as the first woman to lead the institution, insisting "things have never been better" while a senior staffer tells the source staff morale is "on the floor."
- Balshaw's tenure was defined by the pandemic's £56 million financial hit, which reduced 2020 visitors from a predicted 8 million to just 1 million and triggered multiple rounds of redundancies and industrial action.
- Visitor numbers have since recovered to 6.2 million by end of March — up 200,000 year-on-year — with Tate's 155,000-strong membership described in the article as the largest of any cultural institution "anywhere."
- Tate's controversies under Balshaw included a six-figure discrimination settlement, the row over the "racist" Rex Whistler restaurant mural, and the Chris Ofili Requiem mural at Tate Britain (commemorating Grenfell victims) that staff revolted against.
- The National Gallery has changed its collection policy to compete with Tate Modern for 20th-century art — a shift Rudd calls "competitive," though Balshaw publicly welcomed it.
- Government funding increases remained below inflation throughout Balshaw's nine years, and she navigated nine culture secretaries in as many years.
- The Turner Prize has "struggled to remain relevant," while the Blavatnik Building, Nicholas Serota's legacy project, is "mostly empty," according to the source.
Why it matters: The new Tate director inherits a £56 million pandemic financial hole, staff revolts over murals, and renewed competition from the National Gallery — even as visitor numbers rebound to 6.2 million and membership hits 155,000, all under a board whose social conservatism clashes with a young, progressive workforce.
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