2023 Betty Churcher AO Memorial Oration
with Maria Balshaw CBE
Maria Balshaw CBE, Director of Tate at Bridget Riley Retrospecitve Exhibiton At Hayward Gallery, Photo: Jeff Spicer, Getty Images
'Betty Churcher’s legacy embodies my aspirations for Tate – to make art accessible to a wider public and to ensure that the artworks in our galleries represent the dynamism and diversity of the global art scene. Churcher was passionate and pragmatic in equal measure, allowing her to achieve an enormous amount, particularly for women in the arts, who she tirelessly championed. I feel honoured, as a fellow female arts Director, to be speaking at an event held in this inimitable woman’s name.'
Join Maria Balshaw CBE, the Director of Tate, for the 2023 Betty Churcher AO Memorial Oration.
In keeping with the Betty Churcher AO’s legacy of championing audience engagement, this lecture will focus on the value of inclusivity and equity in the arts and how this has shaped Maria’s leadership as the first female Director of Tate.
Maria Balshaw is Director of Tate in the United Kingdom, a role she has held since June 2017. She has overall responsibility for Tate’s strategic direction and day-to-day operations. She has worked to reframe the context and perspective of this long-established institution to engage with sensitive times, furthering the mission of inclusiveness and equality to connect with a wider audience.
Previously, Maria was Director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester; Director of Manchester City Galleries; and Director of Culture for Manchester City Council.
Maria holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of Liverpool and a Master of Arts degree in Critical Theory and a PhD in African American Visual and Literary Culture from the University of Sussex. Maria is Chair of the National Museum Directors’ Council and is a Trustee of the Manchester International Festival’s Board. In 2015, she was awarded a CBE for services to the arts.
Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015) was a leading Australian arts educator and administrator. During her esteemed career, Churcher was the first woman to lead an Australian tertiary education centre as Dean of the School of Art and Design at Phillip Institute of Technology in Melbourne (1982–1987), first woman to lead a state gallery as Director of Art Gallery of Western Australia (1987–1990) and first and only woman Director of the National Gallery (1990–1997). Established in 2022 as part of the National Gallery’s Gender Equity Action Plan, the Betty Churcher AO Memorial Oration is a major annual event featuring leading women in the arts who inspire creativity, inclusivity, engagement and learning.
Duration: 60 minutes
