How we hope to build a more equitable future for UK museums
As we prepare to launch our Empowering Curators programme, Art Fund’s Head of Programme Delivery explores how it’s been developed, what the team have learned along the way and our hopes for the programme to increase the diversity of curators in senior roles.
A lot has happened since we published ‘It’s About Handing Over Power’ in late 2022, a pivotal report which set out a series of recommendations for Art Fund, peer funders, partners and museums to increase the diversity of the UK’s curatorial workforce.
Since then, Art Fund has been consulting closely with Global Majority curators, museum leaders and sector partners to design Empowering Curators – a major new curatorial leadership programme led by Art Fund.
Developed by Art Fund's Programmes team after extensive research, consultation and co-design led by programme consultant Yasmin Khan, Empowering Curators responds to the sector’s ongoing challenge of increasing representation and equity within the curatorial workforce. Arts Council England NPO data (2018-23) shows us that just 6% of those working in museums identify as Black, Asian, or ethnically diverse; the number of curators from ethnically diverse backgrounds will be even smaller.
As reported in the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre’s State of the Nations 2024 report, we see the least ethnic diversity in managers and directors in the creative industries (90% White). This occupation category also had one of the smallest proportions of Black people (1%). The need for change is clear and Empowering Curators aims to be part of that change.
How Empowering Curators will help to foster change
Curators shape how collections are understood and how audiences connect with them. We know that when the people leading that work better reflect the diversity of the UK, the stories we tell in our museums become so much richer, more relevant and more resonant. This is about equity and representation but also about creativity, innovation and resilience across the sector.
The Empowering Curators programme aims to deliver a visible and sustained increase in Global Majority curators progressing into senior and leadership roles within UK museums and galleries. Through multi-year curatorial fellowships and a parallel programme of organisational change within host museums, Empowering Curators will provide curators with the tools, networks and confidence to thrive, while supporting host organisations to embed inclusivity and anti-racism at a structural level.
How the programme has evolved
The programme builds on Art Fund’s 2022 report ‘It’s About Handing Over Power’, which highlighted the urgent need for targeted, permanent interventions in curatorial diversity. Programme design and delivery has evolved through an in-depth collaborative process with Global Majority professionals and senior museum leaders, ensuring lived experience sits at the centre. The result is a two-cohort model (2025-2030), supporting 20 fellowships and 20 host organisations nationwide. Each cohort will be delivered over three years.
Designing Empowering Curators has reinforced our belief that meaningful change requires time, reflection and shared responsibility. We are still early in our journey delivering the programme, working hard to balance ambition with the practicalities of long-term, sustainable change. Our commitment to co-creation and collective learning has been strengthened throughout the process and continues to guide us as we prepare for launch.
Some of our key learnings so far:
We’re deeply grateful to our collaborators in programme delivery: organisational change specialists People Make It Work, leadership champions Clore Leadership and our expert evaluator, Creative Arts Social. Their perspectives have helped hone the programme as we gear up to welcome our first hosts and fellows – from recruitment principles to embedding support structures.
Our hopes for Empowering Curators
We’ve seen significant shifts across the UK’s cultural landscape in recent years. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is increasingly recognised as fundamental to excellence and resilience in our sector. Empowering Curators hopes to build on this momentum, helping museums move from intention to implementation through sustained, resourced change.
Our first cohort will begin in early 2026 and over the course of their fellowships we’ll see the impact of their work through new collaborations, exhibitions and curatorial approaches that reimagine collections for a more inclusive future. We aim to launch the recruitment for a second cohort of host museums in spring 2026.
As we prepare to welcome our first hosts and fellows, who we’ll be announcing early next year, we look forward to learning together and sharing insights across the sector. Empowering Curators is more than a programme – it’s a shared commitment to building a more equitable, dynamic and representative museum community.
Empowering Curators is an Art Fund programme made possible with lead investment from Art Fund and generous support from The Headley Trust, Arts Council England, Ford Foundation, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, Rothschild Foundation, John Booth Charitable Foundation, Hollick Family Foundation and supporters who gave towards Art Fund's Expanding Horizons appeal.
We are continuing to fundraise towards this major five-year programme to realise the full potential it has for the UK museum sector.