Polly Staple was Director of Collection, British Art, Tate from 2020-2024, leading the development of the Tate’s collection of British art and managing the research and acquisition of works from 1500 to the present day. She continued to work on the survey Ed Atkins exhibition at Tate Britain during 2025.

Previously, Staple was Director of Chisenhale Gallery, London (2008-2020). She was formerly Director of Frieze Projects (2002-06) and Editor at Large of frieze magazine (2003-08). Her extensive experience in contemporary art has seen her commission projects and curate exhibitions with a wide range of artists, as well as developing new partnerships and award-winning audience engagement programmes. At Chisenhale Gallery she supported a new generation of British artists to produce ground-breaking new works, including Turner Prize nominee Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Ed Atkins, Helen Marten, Patrick Staff, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and more recently Ghislaine Leung, Mandy El-Sayegh, Ima-Abasi Okon and Imran Perretta.

Staple has also written for and edited numerous publications and served on the juries and selection committee for a number of prizes and biennales. She is a co-founder of the Common Practice initiative, an advocacy group for the contemporary visual arts sector, chaired the Board of Trustees of the Elephant Trust, and was a member of the Acquisitions and Advisory Committee for the Arts Council Collection. In 2001 she was the first recipient of the Cubitt Curatorial Fellowship and in 2014 she was awarded the Genesis Prize.