Sally Tallant, the director of the Queens Museum in New York, has been named director of the Hayward Gallery and visual arts at the Southbank Centre in London. She takes over from Ralph Rugoff who will step down in spring after 20 years in the post. “I am very excited as I love the Hayward and Southbank and am looking forward to returning to London,” she tells The Art Newspaper. She will take up the role from July.
Tallant worked as an assistant curator at the Hayward Gallery in 2001, assisting on the exhibition Facts of Life: Contemporary Japanese Art (2002). She says she now aims to “build on the outstanding legacy of Rugoff, shaping the next chapter of this vital cultural destination and civic institution”. Rugoff will meanwhile “provide curatorial oversight” for a major retrospective of the UK artist Anish Kapoor, launching at the Hayward Gallery in June.
Tallant was responsible for an ambitious $65m capital campaign at Queens Museum, adding art storage, a new auditorium and conservation facilities to the building, which is the only remaining structure developed for the first New York World’s Fair in 1939-40. She has also overseen the development of the Suna Children’s Museum, which is scheduled to open in 2028 at the museum site.
The Queens Museum’s exhibition programme under Tallant has included shows dedicated to artists including Lyle Ashton Harris, Stephanie Dinkins, Charisse Pearlina Weston and Emilie Gossiaux. As director, she also commissioned six permanent public works for Delta Airlines Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport, New York, by artists such as Rashid Johnson and Virginia Overton.
Tallant was the artistic director and the chief executive of the Liverpool Biennial from 2011 to 2019, overseeing four editions. According to her CV, she raised $3.6m for each biennial edition and led a team of 15 permanent and 100 festival staff. From 2001 to 2011, she was head of programmes at the Serpentine Gallery in London.
Tallant joins the UK’s largest arts centre at a crucial time—during its 75th anniversary year. Misan Harriman, the chair of the Southbank Centre, says in a statement: “As we reflect on our 75-year history, it is essential that we reflect the courage and creativity of the world we live in today… [Tallant's] vision will be instrumental in ensuring the Hayward Gallery remains a beacon of cultural excellence and a home for the most vital voices in contemporary art."
According to The Art Newspaper’s annual visitor figures survey, the total attendance for the Hayward Gallery in 2024 was 182,419.
