Dawn Airey CBE to replace Sir Nicholas Serota in August, bringing media and broadcasting background from Getty Images, Channel 4
Dawn Airey CBE has been announced as the new chair of Arts Council England.
Airey succeeds Sir Nicholas Serota, who steps down from the role after nearly 10 years next month.
Airey begins a four year term in August, bringing experience as a media executive which includes time as chief executive of Channel 5, managing director of channels and services at Sky, managing director of global content at ITV and senior vice president at Yahoo! for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Airey also served as the chief executive of Getty Images between 2015 and 2018. She is currently the chair of the National Youth Theatre and the educational platform Digital Theatre+.
She also chairs the Barclays FA Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship board, a position she has held since 2019.
In 2023 Dawn was appointed chancellor of Edge Hill University. In 2021 she joined the board of Channel 4, where she acted as interim chair from 2022 – 25, she is currently deputy chair of the board.
In 2024 Dawn was awarded a CBE for services to theatre and to charity. She is a Vice President and Fellow of the Royal Television Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Dawn brings more than just a wide range of experience across broadcasting, theatre and the wider arts – she brings a passion for what the arts can do for this country and all the people in it.
On her appointment, Airey said “I am thrilled and humbled to succeed the arts titan that is Sir Nicholas Serota, who has magnificently and courageously chaired Arts Council England for the last decade.”
“The Arts Council has a clear new mandate, informed by the recent Independent Review – to do more to support, nurture and protect the arts, and to do so transparently, with speed and with a fairer distribution of spend.”
