Beth Bate, previously director of Great North Run Culture, has been appointed director of Dundee Contemporary Arts. She will join the organisation in January. She replaces Clive Gillman, who left earlier this year to become Creative Scotland’s director of creative industries.
Bate has been at Great North Run Culture for 11 years, developing the organisation as a major commissioner of contemporary art. She has produced projects by Mark Wallinger, Douglas Gordon, Fiona Banner and Cerith Wyn Evans, while also working with new and emerging artists.
She is also on the board for Culture Bridge North East and on the North East Case For Culture’s International Steering Group, and has previously been chair of Wunderbar Festival and a selector for the Northern Art Prize.
Bate said: “Having long admired the outstanding work of DCA, I am absolutely delighted to join as director, particularly at such an important time of development in Dundee. The combination of DCA’s dynamic programme of exhibitions, films, printmaking and education work alongside its role as a social hub for Dundee, makes this an incredibly exciting opportunity…
“I’m particularly pleased to be invited to work in a city that puts culture at the heart of its economic regeneration and civic life.”
DCA chair, Robin Presswood, said of Bate: “As director of Great North Run Culture she developed the organisation’s artistic programme while growing audiences and creating key partnerships regionally and nationally, and the board and I are confident she will bring the same vision and leadership to DCA.”
Leonie Bell, Creative Scotland’s director of arts and engagement, added the funding body’s delight at Bate’s appointment. “We look forward to continuing our work with DCA under her leadership, at this exciting time for the organisation and the city of Dundee,” she said.
