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
Retail Supervisor Robert Parkinson or telephone 07393 00830
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
Civic Engagement and Education Assistant Gurusha Saini
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
