Media veteran Dawn Airey to take over as chair of Arts Council England

The media executive Dawn Airey has been appointed chair of Arts Council England (Ace) and has immediately identified AI as a key challenge facing the sector.

Airey, whose CV includes top jobs at ITV, Channel 5 and Sky, will replace Nicholas Serota, whose tenure coincided with one of the most challenging times for the arts in recent memory.

“The importance of the Arts Council in championing art and culture has never been more needed because the sector has never been more vital to our nation,” said Airey, who has also held roles at Yahoo, Getty Images and the Women’s Super League. “In a world where Al, technology and automation are increasingly dominant, human connection, experience, imagination and creativity are the things that bring us together. They are the quintessential elements of a creative life and of a life well lived.”

Ace has been criticised in recent months, with the Labour peer Margaret Hodge warning it must ensure funding is protected from politicisation and simplify its application process in order to regain trust.

Lady Hodge’s independent review, published last December, found there had been a “loss of respect and trust” for Ace among those it backed, in part because of “perceived political interference in decision-making”. In March, Hodge called for a “radical” overhaul of the organisation so it could to respond to the challenges facing the culture sector.

Addressing those concerns on Tuesday, Airey said: “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.”

She said the appointment was an honour and that she hoped to “champion artistic excellence and experience for all, wherever you live, whatever you do”.

Announcing the appointment, the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said Airey was taking on the role at an “incredibly important time” for the arts. She highlighted Airey’s experience “across broadcasting, theatre and the wider arts”, saying she offered a “passion for what the arts can do for this country and all the people in it. I have no doubt that she will insist on pressing ahead with long overdue action to put people back at the centre of their own national story.”

Nandy thanked Serota for his “tireless dedication to the arts and to artists”. She said: “His tenure as chair was during perhaps the most challenging time for the arts, encompassing funding cuts, a global pandemic, Brexit negotiations and the downgrading of arts on the national curriculum. Throughout all of this he has been a calm, passionate and reassuring presence and a steadfast champion for access to great art. We owe him our gratitude.”