Maria Balshaw
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Maria Jane Balshaw CBE (born 24 January 1970) is director of the Tate art museums and galleries. The appointment was confirmed by
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...
, the UK Prime Minister at the time, on 16 January 2017, making Balshaw the first female director of the Tate. Balshaw has been director of the Whitworth,
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
and also of Manchester City Galleries, which includes
Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupi ...
and Gallery of Costume. Until May 2017, she was director of culture for
Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...
. Balshaw also serves on the national council of the
Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...
. On 12 June 2015, Balshaw was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), in the Queen's birthday honours list, for Services to the Arts.


Early life and education

Born in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, Balshaw grew up in
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
and
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
. After gaining a BA (Hons) in English literature and cultural studies at the
University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
(1991), she attended the
University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
, where she gained an MA in critical theory (1992), followed by a DPhil in African American visual and literary culture (1996).


Career


Early career

Balshaw was appointed lecturer in cultural studies at University College Northampton in 1993. In 1997, Balshaw joined the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
as research fellow and lecturer in visual culture. In 2002, Balshaw left academia to become director of
Creative Partnerships Creative Partnerships was the UK government's flagship creative learning programme, established in 2002 as part of the council's SR2000 settlement to develop young people's creativity through artists' engagement with schools in nominated areas acr ...
in Birmingham. She worked for Peter Jenkinson OBE, national director of creative partnerships and former West Midlands colleague where he had been founder director of the New Art Gallery, Walsall. As part of the newly formed Creative Partnerships, Balshaw was tasked with bringing arts organisations and artists into partnerships with schools. A role which taught Balshaw "a tremendous amount about how to inspire, persuade and cajole unlike partners into common goals". In 2004, Balshaw was selected as one of the inaugural fellows for the Clore Leadership programme. Initiated by the Clore Duffield Foundation, the Programme is the UK's first cross-disciplinary leadership programme for the cultural and creative sector. Balshaw was successful in her application to join the scheme from over 400 other applicants. Since completing the yearlong course, Balshaw has been appointed a member of the strategic advisory board for the Clore Programme. Upon completion of the Clore Leadership Programme, Balshaw acted as regional director of the West Midlands Creative Partnerships programme and then worked for nine months as director of external relations and development for ACE: West Midlands.


The Whitworth

In 2006, Balshaw was headhunted to become the director of
the Whitworth The Whitworth is an art gallery in Manchester, England, containing over 60,000 items in its collection. The gallery is located in Whitworth Park and is part of the University of Manchester. In 2015, the Whitworth reopened after it was transfor ...
. Throughout her work at the Whitworth, Balshaw has featured a broad range of disciplines championing art from around the world in particular West and South African art and the work of female artists. She has been quoted as saying "We do have a lot of women artists on show at the Whitworth, but only because they’re really good. That’s fair." Balshaw's appointment at the Whitworth made her the second female director in the history of the gallery. Margaret Pilkington being the only other female director from 1925 to 1945. In June 2017, Balshaw stepped down as director of the Whitworth to become the first female director of Tate.


Key exhibitions

During her time as director at the Whitworth, Balshaw has been responsible for commissioning a wide range of exhibitions. Some of the most notable include: * ''
Lynn Hershman Leeson Lynn Hershman Leeson (née Lynn Lester Hershman; born June 17, 1941) is an American multimedia artist and filmmaker. Her work with technology and in media-based practices is credited with helping to legitimize digital art forms. Her interests inc ...
– Autonomous Agents'' (2007) – a wide range of the artist's work – from the Roberta Breitmore series (1974–1978) to videos from the 1980s and interactive installations that use the Internet and artificial intelligence software. *''
Marina Abramović Marina Abramović ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Абрамовић, ; born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limit ...
– Presents'' (2009) – As part of the
Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first takin ...
– Abramovich stripped the Whitworth of its artworks and replaced it with fourteen performance artists including Kira O’Reilly’s and Ivan Civic. *''Subversive spaces'' (2009) – looking at the relationship between surrealism and contemporary art, this exhibition included work from Sarah Lucas, Douglas Gordon, Gregor Schneider, Paul Delvaux,
Brassaï Brassaï (; pseudonym of Gyula Halász, ; 9 September 1899 – 8 July 1984) was a Hungarian–French photographer, sculptor, medalist, writer, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerou ...
, Dalí and Magritte. Nearly 50,000 visitors came to the Whitworth during the exhibition, a huge increase on the same period in previous years. Gregor Schneider's installation, Kinderzimmer transformed the usually sunlit galleries at the Whitworth into a pitch black space with just a doorway to aim for. Visitors brushed against various walls and curtains before stumbling towards an eerily lit nursery. Commissioned by the Whitworth for the exhibition Subversive Spaces, Kinderzimmer is the most significant UK installation by Schneider since his ''Die Familie Schneider'' in 2004. *''Walls Are Talking'' (2010) – the UK's first exhibition of wallpapers. *'' Mary Kelly – Projects 1973–2010'' (2011) – four decades of projects by American artist Mary Kelly were brought together in the most comprehensive exhibition of her work presented. *''The Land Between Us'' (2011) – historic and contemporary landscape art exploring its imagery, and the places and power associated with it. *'' Anri Sala and Šejla Kamerić – 1395 Days without Red & Projections'' (2011) – as part of the Manchester International Festival, two films about the siege of
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
were premiered at the Whitworth alongside a number of previous
Artangel Artangel is a London-based arts organisation founded in 1985 by Roger Took. Directed since 1991 by James Lingwood and Michael Morris, it has commissioned and produced a string of notable site-specific works, plus several projects for TV, film, r ...
film projects, including films and installations made by Francis Alÿs,
Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; ; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian Canadians, Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with ''Exotica (film), Exotica ...
and Catherine Yass. Also as part of MIF
Tony Oursler Tony Oursler (born 1957) is an American multimedia and installation artist married to Jacqueline Humphries. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California, in 1979. His art covers a range of med ...
's Influence Machine filled the trees of Whitworth Park with glimmering ghostly faces from the past. *'' Jane and Louise Wilson – Post-atrocity exhibition'' (2012–2013) – An exhibition which included a world premiere where the Wilsons filmed the workers of Chernobyl in a new town. ''Atomgrad (Nature Abhors a Vacuum)'' documented how the bright future promised by nuclear power turned out to be dangerous and unpredictable. *'' Nancy Holt – Land Art'' (2013) – an exhibition of Holt's fascination with time and space *''Nikhil Chopra – Coal On Cotton'' (2013) – Chopra lived and worked in the half completed wing of a new gallery space at the Whitworth for 65 hours during Manchester International Festival. His work explored Manchester's textile history and the people involved in both India and Britain. *'' Cornelia Parker'' (2015) – an extensive exhibition that included a wide range of work. The exhibition included The War Room (one of two new commissions) and Parker's most famous work ''Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View'' (1991). Parker also worked with scientists at the University of Manchester including Kostya Novoselov and Andre Geim. Novoselov created samples of graphene from works in the Whitworth's collection including drawings by
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...
,
Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...
,
Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...
and
Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
. He also used a pencil-written letter by the man who split the atom, Sir Ernest Rutherford. The new sample of graphene was turned into a work of art by Parker to be used on the opening night of the new gallery. A firework display was triggered by Novoselov breathing on a graphene sensor created with a Blake painting.


Capital transformation

Balshaw started the process of reviving the Whitworth in 2007 with the launch of a new capital build project. Funding for the ambitious project totalling £15m came from the
University Of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
,
Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
,
Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...
, trusts and foundations including Clore Duffield,
Wolfson Foundation The Wolfson Foundation is a British registered charity that awards grants to support science and medicine, health, education and the arts and humanities. It was established in 1955 and re-registered in 2014. , the endowment of the Wolfson Fo ...
, Headley Trust, The Granada Foundation as well as Friends of the Whitworth and private donors. In 2009, with the support of the
Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
, Balshaw ran an international competition, that attracted 139 submissions from architects from all over the world. The competition was chaired by Tom Bloxham and included Peter Saville as a judge. McInnes Usher McKnight Architects (MUMA) were appointed architects for the project and building work began in 2013. On completion, the gallery has doubled its exhibition space and opened up the gallery to Whitworth park. As ''The Guardian'' reported: "At the front, they have softened the forbidding entrance with a sculpture forecourt and an inviting sequence of steps, ramps and benches; but the real meat of the project is saved for the back, where MUMA have extended the symmetrical composition with a pair of wings that project out into Whitworth Park, framing a new sculpture garden. "It’s about having open arms and saying: ‘This place belongs to you.’" says Balshaw. "Before, we turned our back with a blank brick wall – now you can see what’s going on inside." Balshaw commissioned landscape architect Sarah Price to design two new areas of landscaping named the Art and Orchard garden with other new facilities including a study centre, learning studio and a collections centre. Reopening The Whitworth reopened on 14 February 2015, with over 18,000 people attending the new gallery in the first two days to explore new exhibitions from Cornelia Parker and Cai Guo-Qiang. In just six weeks over 100,000 visitors had explored the new gallery in the park. The new Whitworth was named
RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
NW building of the year in May 2015.


Manchester Art Gallery

In 2011, Balshaw took on the role of Director of Manchester City Galleries alongside her duties at the Whitworth. This dual directorship brought the two institutions' collections of historic and modern art into alliance for the first time in their history. Upon the appointment,
Richard Leese leader of Manchester City Council, said creating a joint director role for the two galleries would “not only safeguard, but significantly enhance the city’s cultural reputation”.


Key exhibitions

During her time as director,
Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupi ...
hosted a wide range of contemporary and historical exhibitions including: * ''
Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often William Hogarth, Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his mos ...
– Pre-Raphaelite Pioneer'' (2012) – Bringing together 140 works from the Pre-Raphaelite painter, this was the first exhibition from Brown since 1964. * ''We Face Forward'' (2012) – a city wide exhibition of contemporary west African art that attracted more than a quarter of a million visitors across Manchester and included 33 exhibitors from nine countries including Georges Adéagbo,
El Anatsui El Anatsui (; born 4 February 1944) is a Ghanaian sculptor active for much of his career in Nigeria. He has drawn particular international attention for his "Bottle cap, bottle-top installations". These installations consist of thousands of Alum ...
, Romuald Hazoumè and George Osodi. The event, led by Balshaw, received funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and included work in the Manchester Art Gallery,
the Whitworth The Whitworth is an art gallery in Manchester, England, containing over 60,000 items in its collection. The gallery is located in Whitworth Park and is part of the University of Manchester. In 2015, the Whitworth reopened after it was transfor ...
, The Manchester Museum,
Band on the Wall Band on the Wall is a live music venue in the Northern Quarter (Manchester), Northern Quarter of Manchester, England. History Early history The building dates back to around 1862 when a local brewery, the McKenna Brothers, built it as the flag ...
, The Bridgewater Hall, The Printworks, Gallery Of Costume,
National Football Museum The National Football Museum is England's national museum of Football in England, football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of association football, football ...
and Royal Northern College of Music. Balshaw commented ahead of ''We Face Forward:'' ''"Manchester's connections to West Africa are part of its industrial and trading history. This exhibition brings the dynamism of West African art today to Manchester, as the world comes to the UK for the Olympics." * ''
Jeremy Deller Jeremy Deller (born 30 March 1966) is an English people, English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is Collaboration, collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the Idealiz ...
– All That Is Solid Melts Into Air'' (2013/2014) – Deller created a personal view of the cultural, sociological and technological impact of the Industrial Revolution using a combination of artworks, objects and historical accounts. * '' Joana Vasconcelos – Time Machine'' (2014) – the UK’s largest exhibition of works by the Portuguese contemporary artist. This show included over twenty of Vasconcelos’ most significant sculptures including the world premiere of a new textile work. * '' Ryan Gander – Make Every Show Like It's Your Last'' (2014) – Gander's largest UK show to date.


The Manchester Partnership

In 2012, Balshaw led the partnership of Manchester City Galleries, Whitworth Art Gallery and The Manchester Museum in their application for £5.3m of funding from the Arts Council England.


Manchester City Council

During 2014, as part of her role as director of culture, Balshaw worked to persuade George Osborne to commit significant funding to building a new artistic and cultural centre in Manchester. In 2014, the government announced funding of £78m for The Factory, a brand new artistic hub on the old
Granada Studios Granada Studios was a television studio complex and events venue on Quay Street in Manchester, England, with the facility to broadcast live and recorded television programmes. The studios were the headquarters of Granada Television from 1956 to ...
site in the city’s
Castlefield Castlefield is an inner-city conservation area in Manchester, North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the River Irwell, A34 road, Quay Street, Deansgate and A56 road, Chester Road. It was the site of the Rom ...
district.


Tate

Balshaw has been director of Tate art museums and galleries since 2017, succeeding Sir Nicholas Serota (1988 to 2017). Her appointment was confirmed by the UK prime minister on 16 January 2017, making her the first female director of the Tate. Balshaw was a member of the jury for the inaugural Sigg Prize, which selected Samson Young as winner in 2020.


Personal life

Balshaw married Professor Liam Kennedy in 1997; they have a son and a daughter. The couple separated in 2006. Balshaw married Nick Merriman, who was then director of the
Manchester Museum Manchester Museum is a museum displaying works of archaeology, anthropology and natural history and is owned by the University of Manchester, in England. Sited on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road (A34 road, A34) at the heart of the university's group ...
, in 2010. They live in Manchester with Balshaw's children. In 2014, Balshaw’s Vivienne Westwood wedding dress was included in the Something Blue exhibition at the Gallery of Costumes. Balshaw is a director of the Rothesay Pavilion Charity. The charity was set up in 2014 with the aim of raising funds to transform the category A listed Pavilion into a new cultural centre for Bute. In 2015, the charity reached its funding target of £8m. The new development will upgrade the main auditorium and add a second performance space for young people. There will also be new gallery space, a bistro, shops and bars along with a new multi-purpose rooftop space. In August 2020 Balshaw was the guest for
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
's ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...
''. Her book choice was ''Vickery’s Folk Flora: an A-Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants'' by Roy Vickery, her luxury item was a full set of flower and vegetable seeds and her favourite track was "Waiting for the Great Leap Forward" by
Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...
. In the programme she revealed that, prior to the birth of her son, she had suffered three
miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...
s.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balshaw, Maria 1970 births Living people Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Northampton Alumni of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the University of Sussex Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Directors of museums in the United Kingdom Directors of the Tate galleries People associated with the University of Manchester People from Birmingham, West Midlands British women museum directors