Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees determines policy and, together with senior Tate staff, sets the strategic direction for Tate. It oversees the management of the gallery, with the Trustees acting as guardians of the public interest.

The Board decides on major acquisitions and resource allocations. It represents Tate externally, monitors the organisation’s performance against its agreed objectives and targets and ensures the stewardship of public funds.

The Board of Trustees is supported by a series of Sub-committees and Advisory Councils, as well as Tate’s connected charities and subsidiaries.

Tate’s Board of Trustees has fourteen members. Thirteen of these are appointed by the Prime Minister after an open process of selection, conducted in accordance with the Code of the Office of the Commissioner of Public Appointments, and one is a member of the National Gallery Board of Trustees. Correspondingly, one of Tate’s Trustees sits on the National Gallery Board.

In line with the Museums and Galleries Act 1992, at least three of Tate’s Trustees must be practising artists. The Board chooses a Chair from among its own number.

Tate’s Trustees serve in a voluntary capacity and are unremunerated.

Registers of Interest

A Register of Interests is kept up to date for each Trustee so that any potential conflicts of interest can be identified and managed in line with the principles set out in Tate’s Conflict of Interest Management Policy. See Trustees’ Registers of Interest in their profiles below.

Trustee Appointments

Appointments are generally made for a term of four years, and may be renewed once for a further term of the same length. It is currently the convention that Artist Trustees serve for one term only.

Trustee vacancies are advertised externally in the media and on the government-sponsored Public Appointments website in order to reach as diverse an audience as possible.

If you would like to learn more about becoming a Tate Trustee, please email governance@tate.org.uk

The Board of Trustees meets six times a year to consider issues of strategic importance and to review performance.

As part of our commitment to openness and transparency, minutes of the Trustees’ meetings are routinely published on this website.

Minutes for meetings of the Trustees of the Tate Gallery

The Board’s work is supplemented by standing sub-committees that have different responsibilities and cover different aspects of the Board’s work.

In addition, there are four site councils whose role is to advise the site Directors on the overall running of each gallery.

Membership

Sub-committees and Advisory Councils may include co-opted members and have at least one Trustee in their membership. All members are appointed by the Board.

There is no formal application process as there is for Trustees, but CVs and expressions of interest are welcome. If you are interested in serving on a Sub-committee, please email governance@tate.org.uk

Tate Members Regional Committees

The work of Tate Members Council is supplemented by the Tate St Ives and Tate Liverpool regional committees that provide advice on local membership schemes.

To apply to be considered for your Tate Liverpool or Tate St Ives regional committee, you must be an ‘extra card’ Member of your chosen gallery (but not a second card holder). There is provision for up to three member-nominated members on each regional committee. Nominations are welcome throughout the year. Those received too late for consideration in the current year will be held over until the next year. Approved candidates are recommended for election at the September meetings of the regional committees, when all committee appointments and re-appointments are made by paper ballot.

To be considered you need to be nominated by another Tate Member. Please accompany your nomination with a written declaration, confirming your willingness to stand, together with a 150-word personal statement. Write to the Membership Co-ordinator at your chosen gallery:

Tate Liverpool
Albert Dock
Liverpool L3 4BB

Tate St Ives
Porthmeor Beach
St Ives
Cornwall TR26 1T