Former Hepworth Wakefield director appointed chief executive of London’s Royal Academy

Simon Wallis, the director of the Hepworth Wakefield, has been appointed as the new secretary and chief executive of the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London. He replaces Axel Rüger, who stepped down from the role in October last year to become director of the Frick Collection in New York.

Wallis says in a statement: “As the UK’s oldest and foremost artist-led organisation, the extraordinary talent and vision of the Royal Academicians, and their team, leads the creative conversation on a national and international stage.”

However, he joins the 256-year-old Royal Academy at a difficult time. In February this year it was announced that the academy may axe up to 60 roles as part of a cost-saving restructure—around 18% of its workforce. An RA spokesperson said at the time that the move would be “required to sustain its position in the future”.

In April this year the RA concluded a consultation period across all levels of the organisation, and a restructure resulted in a 15% reduction in its workforce. A spokesperson told The Art Newspaper that this reduction was delivered through a combination of both compulsory and voluntary redundancies, alongside leaving vacant roles unfilled.

Wallis was appointed director of the Hepworth Wakefield in 2008. The gallery opened in 2011 and, according to its website, reached its initial annual target of 150,000 visitors in its first five weeks. In 2017 the West Yorkshire venue was named the Art Fund Museum of the Year.

At the award ceremony, David Chipperfield, the architect who designed the Hepworth Wakefield, recalled that the £35m project was initially turned down by the National Lottery for funding. “It has been wonderful to see Simon Wallis and his team really bring the building into the community against all of the odds,” he said.

Wallis was also previously the director of Chisenhale Gallery, London; a senior exhibitions organiser at the ICA, London; a curator at Tate Liverpool; and a curator at Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge. He studied Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art and gained an MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies at the University of Manchester.