About
Marks|Calil is a strategic consultancy that helps museums and art businesses to make decisions with clarity and confidence.
Our clients trust us to support them in determining priorities for their organisations and businesses. We work with directors, senior leaders and founders around the world to create intelligent opportunities for success.
Whether you’re looking to refresh strategy, implement change or position your organisation for growth, we’re here to work closely with you to ensure focus and direction. Our clients understand the value of objective advice – and use it to act meaningfully and decisively.
View some of our recent projects and our selected client list here.
About May and Thomas
May Calil and Thomas Marks are internationally respected strategists and communicators, specialising in the art and museums sectors. They have a strong reputation for offering independent, purposeful advice, based on their exceptional knowledge of the field and their longstanding commitment to art and artists.
May and Tom share a deep commitment to the value of art and culture, and to the people, organisations and institutions that sustain creative endeavours. Both are active in governance roles – May as Chair of the Chisenhale Gallery, London, Tom on the board of Art UK – and are sensitive to the challenges facing arts organisations and their aspirations to ensure sustainable, inclusive futures. It is that outlook which prompted them to found Marks|Calil in 2022.
May Calil in
May offers experience in business development and change management, drawing on two decades of immersion in both public and commercial arts organisations. She is highly regarded as both a strategist and a global connector in the arts. She enjoys working with clients to identify and develop new business opportunities, create dynamic strategies that can be implemented and provide strategic counsel.
A qualified leadership and professional development coach, May works closely with creative leaders and organisations to clarify vision, stretch their influence, and take action. Her clients appreciate her capacity to enable creative ambition within operational constraints.
Thomas Marks in
Tom brings expertise on content and communications strategies, positioning and profile-building to Marks|Calil. His work with clients is grounded in an outstanding knowledge of the international art and museum sectors – as well as a passion for both historical and contemporary art and a deeply-held belief in their public value.
Tom is an authoritative communicator in the art and museum sectors, most notably as the Editor of Apollo from 2013–21. In that role he worked to expand the reach and remit of the magazine, launching an online platform to publish daily content and establishing the Apollo 40 Under 40 initiative to celebrate innovation in the art and museum sectors. During his editorship he developed the annual Apollo Awards into a global benchmark of excellence.
Please contact us if you’d like to discuss how we can support your organisation or business.