Inaugural Chair announced for the new management organisation responsible for the Arts Council Collection

Cultural leader Sukhy Johal MBE has been appointed as the inaugural Chair of a new organisation which will care for and share the Arts Council Collection once it has moved to Coventry.

Sukhy is an accomplished Chair, Director and Executive known for leading large-scale cultural organisations and transformative programmes across public, charitable, commercial, educational and independent sectors. He started his career volunteering across the third sector and was the founding co-chair of the New Art Exchange. Now, Sukhy is completing his term as Arts Council England Member of National Council and Chair of the Midlands Area to bring his expertise in working with local authorities and placemaking initiatives into his new role. Grounded in his working-class immigrant background, his civic-minded leadership champions equity and amplifies marginalised voices.

Established in 1946, the Arts Council Collection is one of the largest and most important national collections of modern and contemporary British art in the world. The Collection includes more than 8,500 works of art by more than 2,200 artists. It reaches more than one million people each year through loans and exhibitions.