Will Gompertz

Will was appointed the Director of Arts and Learning at The Barbican in 2021. He is Author of international bestselling art history book What Are You Looking At? and is one of the most respected commentators on The Arts. Voted one of the World’s Top 50 Creative Thinkers by New York’s Creativity Magazine. He was formerly the BBC Arts Editor and previously the Director of The Tate Gallery.

As a writer he has penned numerous articles for, among others, The Times and the Guardian and his second book Think Like an Artist: Imaginative Ways to a More Creative and Productive Life was released by Penguin in 2015, and is a witty and inspiring read, identifying ten lessons to be learned from the greatest artists across history, to give us tools to unlock creativity and thrive at work and in our personal lives.

He was the BBC’s first ever dedicated Arts Editor covering all aspects of the arts from funding and policy to criticism in the theatre, music, film, visual arts and literature.

Prior to his BBC appointment Will served for almost a decade as director of Tate Media where he was responsible for the institution’s award-winning online presence and for Tate Etc. the UK's highest-circulation art magazine. Before working for Tate Will had a varied career that took in working in an Our Price shop, at a holiday camp, as a stage-hand at Sadler's Wells and as a runner for a TV company. He also founded the DVD-magazine Shots covering international short films and commercial promo films. Will also set up a dedicated arts TV production company making programmes for Channel 4 and ITV and even a film with Aardman Animation.

An experienced host and interviewer, Will can not only talk about the all aspects of the art world and creativity, but also has a wealth of tales from his time in broadcasting, whether it’s mispronouncing the subject’s name in an obituary, or interviewing superstars from Mick Jagger to Damian Hurst and Meryl Streep.

He has even performed a show at the Edinburgh Fringe called Double Art History.