Beth Bate

Beth Bate is Director of Dundee Contemporary Arts. With large-scale gallery spaces, two cinemas, an open access print studio, and an award-winning learning programme, as well as a shop, hire spaces and café bar, DCA is a vital cultural and social hub for those that live in, work in and visit Dundee. 

Beth is a Trustee of the Edinburgh Art Festival and of the Mount Stuart Trust, and a member of the Board of V&A Dundee. She sits on the British Council’s Scotland Advisory Committee and the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group for Culture. Beth was also on the selection panel for the British Council’s 2022 Venice Biennale Pavilion presentation with Sonia Boyce. 

Before joining DCA, Beth led Great North Run Culture in Newcastle as Director for 11 years, commissioning projects by artists including Mark Wallinger, Douglas Gordon, Jane and Louise Wilson, and Fiona Banner. Originally from Wales, Beth has a BA (Hons) in English with History of Art from the University of Birmingham and an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester. She was an Arts Council England Fellow on the 2014/15 Clore Leadership Programme and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

Bate’s visit is organised in collaboration with the Finnish Cultural Institute in the UK and Ireland.