Our Staff
You can contact the Whitworth via our main telephone number, on 0161 275 7450 or by emailing whitworth@manchester.ac.uk where our Visitor Team will be able to guide you.
The gallery is closed to visitors on Mondays, please see our Opening Times, for details.
Directorate
Prof Sook-Kyung Lee
Director
Prof Sook-Kyung Lee is Director of the Whitworth at The University of Manchester; she was Artistic Director of the 14th Gwangju Biennale in 2023, titled soft and weak like water, which explored themes of resistance, indigeneity, decoloniality and ecology. Lee was Senior Curator, International Art at Tate Modern, working in exhibitions, collection displays and acquisitions, she also headed a major multi-year research initiative ‘Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational’ at Tate Modern, overseeing its strategic vision and associated programming. Lee served as the Commissioner and Curator of the Korea Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale and curator of the Japan Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale represented by the artist Yuko Mohri in 2024.
Senior Executive Assistant to the Director
Helen Fairs or telephone 07825 316609
Visitor Team
Visitor Team Manager Ashleigh Owen or telephone 07867 501273
Visitor Team Assistant Manager Tahmina Rahman
Visitor Team Assistant Manager Robin Cleary
Visitor Team Coordinator John Kirkpatrick
Visitor Team Coordinator (Part-time) Rose Whittemore
Visitor Team Coordinator Bria Cotton
Development
Development & Stakeholder Manager Olga Gribben or telephone 0161 275 8458
Data
Data Manager Helen Mark or telephone 07831 112808
Marketing & Communications
Communications Manager Melissa McFarlane
Cultural Communications Coordinator Joanne Hitchen
(Tuesday – Thursday)
Digital Communications Officer Steve Devine
(Monday – Tuesday)
For all Press and Media enquiries Whitworth Press
Visit our Press and Media page for our latest press releases
Retail & Commercial
Buyer and Product Developer Emma Gittins or telephone 07471 119940
Whitworth Enterprise Administrator Ruth Wedgbury
Civic Engagement and Education
Head of Civic Engagement and Education Ed Watts
Cultural Park Keeper Francine Hayfron or telephone 07795 128868
(Monday – Thursday)
Learning Manager Andrew Vaughan
Volunteering and Civic Engagement Manager Fiona Cariss or telephone 07554 778269
Education Assistant Jason Lau +44 161 275 4417
Producer, Families and Early Years Lucy Turner
Producer, Schools (Primary and Secondary) Steven Roper
Producer, Colleges and Young People Denise Bowler or telephone 07342 066483
(Monday – Thursday)
Project Producer Dominic Bilton
Producer, Age-Friendly Claire Cowell or telephone 07776 170688
(Part-time)
Collections and Exhibitions
Please visit the collections page to get in touch with our Collections and Exhibitions team for any of the following reasons:
Loaning work from the collection
Image reproduction and licensing
Collection offers and donations
The Whitworth’s exhibition programme is planned three years in advance, and are generated by our in-house curatorial team, often in collaboration with colleagues across the University or with other institutions. For this reason, we are unable to respond to unsolicited proposals.
Head of Exhibitions & Collections Darren Pih
Senior Curator (Collections & Textiles and Wallpaper) Amy George
Senior Curator (Exhibitions) Poppy Bowers
Curator, Historic Fine Art Imogen Holmes-Roe
(Monday – Thursday)
Curator Olivia Heron
Curator (Modern & Contemporary Art) Valentin Diakonov
Curatorial Fellow (Supported by the Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curators Fellowship) Sophia Allison
Assistant Curator (Textiles and Wallpaper) Victoria Hartley
(Monday – Thursday)
Assistant Curator (Art) Hannah Vollam
Gallery Registrar Jamilla Briggs
Conservation and Collections Care
Collections Care Manager and Conservator, Textiles Ann French
(Monday – Wednesday)
Conservator, Preventive and Sculpture Sarah Potter
Conservator, Paper Dan Hogger
Senior Gallery Technician: Exhibitions and Collections Care Mark Buchanan
Senior Gallery Technician: Exhibitions and Collections Care Joel Rogers
Gallery Technician: Conservation and Collections Care Emma Brown
(Monday – Wednesday)
Alternatively, contact the team by telephone 0161 275 7807
The Buildings and Operations Team
Head of Buildings and Operations Dean Whiteside
Buildings and Operations Manager Luke Gleadall 07584 543856
Events & Enterprise Manager Alex Joseph 07880 015119
Safety, Compliance and Risk Manager Sheila Chisholm
AV/IT Technician (Part-time) Tristan Clutterbuck 07500 605339
Landscape and Sustainability Technician Patrick Osborn 07795 151262
Facilities Assistant and Van Driver David Carmichael 07393 008717
The Whitworth Café
The Whitworth Café whitworth.cafe@manchester.ac.uk or telephone 0161 275 7497
Operations Manager Adam Woof or telephone 07717 336176
Conference and Events conference@manchester.ac.uk or telephone 0161 306 4100
Weddings weddings@manchester.ac.uk or telephone 0161 275 2675
The Whitworth Cafe is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm, Thursdays until late.
Menu and service times are detailed here.
Online table reservations – click here
The Shop
The Whitworth Shop is open during gallery opening times
Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm, Thursdays 10am-9pm
Telephone during opening hours 07393008304
