GATESHEAD.- BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art announced the appointment of Kate Gray in the role of Director of Enterprise and Public Value.

Kate will take up the position in September 2021 and will play a leading role in the direction of BALTIC’s strategic development, generating commercial opportunities that enable BALTIC to selfsustain, leverage innate cultural assets, and place civic responsibility and public value at the heart of its business objectives and operation.

Speaking today about the appointment Sarah Munro, Director of BALTIC said: “I am delighted that we have been able to strengthen BALTIC’s senior management team through the appointment of Kate Gray. Kate brings a wealth of experience that will be invaluable as we seek to utilise the arts to address key social and environmental challenges and support recovery from the pandemic. This role is a groundbreaking opportunity to support the leadership and transition of our sector and how we work as an art gallery and engage civically with our communities, audiences and stakeholders. We are focused on enabling positive social and economic change for our audiences and ensuring that BALTIC remains relevant and selfsustaining.”

Kate has been Director of Collective, Edinburgh since 2009 and led the transformation of the organisation through its successful capital project which repurposed the iconic City Observatory on Calton Hill, Edinburgh. Kate developed a new trading arm with innovative collaborative projects involving chefs, designers, artists and architects. Kate has a track record on involving public in the development and production of contemporary art projects. Prior to becoming Director of Collective she commissioned collaborations within the One Mile Programme based on mutuality between artists and residents of Edinburgh, and worked in general and psychiatric hospital communities developing and delivering collaborative projects. She trained as an artist and graduated from Glasgow School of Art’s Master of Fine Art in 1998.

Kate Gray said: “I am thrilled to join the team at BALTIC, an organisation I have admired throughout my professional life. I believe strongly in contemporary art’s ability to contribute to a vision of the future which is now needed more than ever. I look forward to developing new partnerships and opportunities.”