About
SIMON TAIT
0208 693 5672/07713 859218; simon@staitarts.com
Simon Tait is a freelance journalist, writer and editor. The former arts correspondent of The Times where he instituted and edited the Times Museums and Galleries Guides of 1989 and 1990, he was later the museums correspondent for the BBC History Magazine, arts policy columnist for The Times, a founder trustee of the Gulbenkian Prize for Museums and Galleries, and freelance arts and features writer for The Independent, The Times, the Evening Standard and FT. He is the editor of the quarterly magazine Museum News and co-editor of the fortnightly Arts Industry magazine. He has beenchair of the Arts Correspondents Group since 1995 and in 2007 he was elected chair of the Critics Circle Art and Architecture Group. His biography of the painter Philip Sutton was published by the Royal Academy in October 2008. He was elected President of the Critics’ for 2013 (its centenary year) to 2015. He is a member of the Garrick, the Arts Club and Surrey CCC, and a life member of the NUJ.
Education
1959-66 Educated at Hawes Down Secondary Modern School and Bromley Technical College.
1998-2004 Open University, BA (Hons) (Humanities with Art History).
Employment
1966-69 Croydon Advertiser Group (apprenticed reporter).
1969-71 Evening Argus, Brighton (reporter).
1971-72 Newham Recorder (reporter/sub).
1972-75 Manchester Evening News (sub).
1975-80 Ministry of Defence press office.
1980-84 Head of Press & PR, Victoria & Albert Museum.
1984-85 Commissioning editor, Telegraph Sunday Magazine .
1985-89 Freelance feature writing for TSM, Daily Telegraph, Times, FT, Evening Standard.
1988-92 Arts correspondent, The Times.
1989 Author Palaces of Discovery, the changing world of Britain’s museums published by Quiller Press .
1989/90 Editor Times Guide to Museums and Galleries, 1989, 1990.
1992 – Freelance arts features writer for Times, Observer, FT, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Guardian, Evening Standard, TES, BBC History, Classical Music Magazine, Stage and others
1993-94 Arts diarist and features writer, The Observer
1996-98 Conceived, commissioned and edited Yearbooks for London Philharmonic Orchestra (2), Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Royal Albert Hall
1998-2004 Editor, Arts News (quarterly for National Campaign for the Arts).
2000-2005 Columnist, Art Quarterly.
2000-02 Founding editor, 24 Hour Museum (website publication)
2000-2005 Museums Correspondent , BBC History Magazine.
1998- Diarist, AI magazine
2002-4 Co-editor, Barbican Magazine.
2001-3 Compiler and writer of museums column for The Times
2003-5 Compiler, three-weekly arts policy and funding page, The Times.
2003- Co-editor AI magazine
2004-12 Editor, Museum News
2005- Columnist, NADFAS Review
2008 ‘Vision Paper’ on the Social Museum commissioned and published by The Rowntree Foundation
2008 Philip Sutton: Life and Work, co-written with John Russell-Taylor, published by the Royal Academy.
