Helen Legg Appointed as New Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts

The Royal Academy of Arts announced that Helen Legg has been appointed as the new Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts. She is currently Director of Tate Liverpool and will start her new role at the Royal Academy in June 2026. She will take on responsibility for the RA’s world-class exhibition programme, collection and public programme.

Legg spent her early career as a curator at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, before being appointed Director of Spike Island, Bristol in 2010. She has been Director of Tate Liverpool since 2018 and, during her tenure, has led the gallery’s artistic vision, delivering high profile international exhibitions and commissions.

Rebecca Salter CBE, President of the Royal Academy of Arts, said: ‘We are delighted about these exciting new appointments. The Royal Academicians and Council are confident they will build on and deliver the important work for which the Royal Academy is internationally renowned. We greatly look forward to welcoming them in June.’

Simon Wallis OBE, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy, said: ‘Helen is the ideal person for the role of Artistic Director at the RA. She is highly respected in the art world and has a proven track record in delivering exceptional exhibitions.’

Helen Legg said: ‘I’m thrilled to be appointed Artistic Director at the Royal Academy. The RA is led by leading artists and architects, with the UK’s oldest – and crucially free – art school at its heart. The opportunity to shape the RA’s artistic programme and respond to its extraordinary gallery spaces, as well as launching the expanded Collection Gallery, is tremendously exciting.’

Helen Legg Biography

Helen Legg was appointed Director of Tate Liverpool in 2018. During her tenure, Tate Liverpool has evolved to more closely mirror the city and its myriad histories, using Tate’s international reputation and outstanding collection to place the city at the centre of an outward-looking artistic programme. She has led a major capital project to transform the gallery’s Grade 1 listed building, which will reopen in 2027. In addition to running the gallery, she oversaw Tate’s national partnerships and served as Chair of Royal Albert Dock.

Prior to arriving at Tate, Legg was director of Spike Island, Bristol (2010–2018), a gallery and studio complex with a programme focused on emerging and under-recognised artists. She previously worked as a curator at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2005–2010), where she was heavily involved in the development of Ikon Eastside, a second gallery and events space based in a former factory building in Digbeth, an industrial area of the city.

Legg has been part of selection committees for British and Scottish representation at the Venice Biennale, and has been a judge for the Turner Prize, the Contemporary Art Society’s Museums Award, the Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, the Jerwood Drawing Prize and the Paul Hamlyn Artist’s Awards.

She gained an MA in History of Art from the University of St Andrews in 1996, followed by an MA in Curating & Commissioning Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art. She completed the Chief Executive Programme of National Art Strategies, hosted by Harvard Business School and Michigan Business School, in April 2015.