The Board of Queens Museum in New York has announced the appointment of Sally Tallant as its new Executive Director. She will take up her appointment in Spring 2019.
Sally Tallant, curator, educator and artistic director, is currently Director of Liverpool Biennial. She worked as a curator at the Hayward Gallery in London in 1999 and was appointed Head of Programmes at the Serpentine Gallery in 2001. Over the next ten years, she developed and delivered an integrated programme of exhibitions, education, projects and innovative public programmes for the Gallery. She is currently on the Alt Power 100 Artlyst for 2018 as one of the shakers and movers in the Contemporary Art world.
In 2011, she was appointed Artistic Director and CEO of Liverpool Biennial, the UK’s largest international festival of contemporary art, where she has created a pioneering model of a Biennial underpinned by research and education, with a year-round programme of permanent and temporary public art commissions including the Dazzle Ships series and Ugo Rondinone’s Liverpool Mountain. She has overseen four editions of the Liverpool Biennial and has commissioned more than 180 international artists’ projects and large-scale performances, working closely with the city’s major arts organisations including Tate Liverpool, National Museums Liverpool and Culture Liverpool as well as museums and cultural institutions internationally.
Sally Tallant is recognised internationally as a leader in the field of public and socially engaged art and education and speaks regularly at conferences across the world. She is Vice-President of the International Biennial Association, formed in 2012, a Council Member of the London Arts Council for Arts Council England, and in 2018 she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to the arts.
Kathleen Soriano, Chair of the Board of Liverpool Biennial, said: “We want to thank Sally Tallant for her inspirational leadership and multiple achievements as Artistic Director and CEO of Liverpool Biennial. We have been fortunate to benefit from all the brilliant work she has done for Liverpool and the Biennial over the last seven years. She will be hugely missed by all who work with her as well as the wider Liverpool community who have benefitted from her dedication to bringing the work of world-class artists to every part of the city, and truly involving everybody in the experience of art, proving that art is accessible to all.”
The Queens Museum in Flushing Meadows Corona Park features contemporary art, events of hyperlocal and international impact, and educational programs reflecting the diversity of Queens and New York City. Changing exhibitions present the work of emerging and established artists, both local and global, that often explore contemporary social issues, as well as the rich history of its site. In November 2013, the Museum reopened with an expanded footprint of 105,000 square feet, a soaring skylit atrium, a suite of daylight galleries, nine artist studios, and flexible event space. The Museum works outside its walls through engagement initiatives ranging from multilingual outreach and educational opportunities for adult immigrants to a plethora of community-led art and activism projects. The Museum’s educational programming connects with school children, teens, families, seniors as well as those individuals with physical and mental disabilities. The Queens Museum is located on property owned in full by the City of New York, and its operation is made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Founded in 1998, Liverpool Biennial is the UK biennial of contemporary art and commissions artists to make and present work in the context of Liverpool. It takes place every two years across the city in public spaces, galleries, museums and online. Amongst the partner organisations are Arts Council England, Liverpool City Council, Tate, National Galleries Merseyside, Bluecoat, FACT and Liverpool University. The Biennial is underpinned by a programme of research, education, residencies and commissions. Liverpool Biennial is funded and supported by Arts Council England, Liverpool City Council and founding supporters James Moores.
Sally Tallant. Photo credit: Hugo Glendinning