Team

The NN team consists of highly motivated individuals including employees, the board, freelancers and volunteers.
We work with a roster of freelance technicians and artist educators. If you are interested in joining NN’s roster of freelancers see our Opportunities page.

Artistic Director and CEO

Emer Grant

Emer Grant, Artistic Director and CEO, is a Curator, Producer, and Researcher who completed her Masters in Curatorial Studies at CCS Bard College (USA) and History of Art at the University of York (UK), and her BFA in Critical Fine Art Practice at the University of Brighton. Over the course of more than ten years working across the museum and gallery sector, she has contributed to many exhibition projects in curatorial, production and editorial roles. Emer was a Fellow for The Recalibrated Institution (Miami) and Curator at Art Center South Florida (now Oolite Arts). Prior to this Emer was an Associate Curator of the 2014 Sonorities Festival (Belfast), she has curated shows and programming for various institutions including the Hessel Museum (NY), P! Gallery (NY), ISCP (NY), Stroom den Haag (NL) Void Gallery (NI), Pollinaria (IT), Yeah Maybe (MN), PHL (DE) and The Grand Parade Gallery (UK). She was Visiting Tutor at the RCA, Visiting Curator at Bard College MFA, Visiting Curator at the University of Minnesota Studio Arts BFA and Visiting Critic for Florida International University’s Architecture BFA programme. Emer was the Editor of Accessions.org between 2016-2018 and has written for various publications including, Nero, Electronic Beats, The Editorial, The Miami Rail and Rhizome. She was a fellow selected for the ICI (Independent Curators International) 2013 and has consulted for various organizations on Digital Arts and interdisciplinary strategies for public space. She is also an Associate Curator for Left Gallery (Berlin).

Finance and Facilities Manager

Louise Tyrrell

Originally trained as a silversmith, Louise has worked within the arts sector for nearly 20 years.  She has undertaken various roles within arts and third sector organisations and the local authority to support the development of arts, with a particular focus on project management, financial management and funding.

Communities & Engagement Producer

Toby Kilby-Pollard

Toby is a multidisciplinary artist and producer from Northampton with over 10 years of experience leading creative, community-rooted projects. His work bridges care, collaboration, and culture — currently designing arts programmes that foster creative death literacy as a Community Artist at St Christopher’s Hospice.

We first met Toby when he joined the NN Associates Programme, and we’ve been inspired by his thoughtful approach to socially-engaged practice ever since. Toby works between London & Northampton and spent 7 years in Leeds, working as Assistant Curator at The Tetley and co-founding the artist-led city centre space Freehold Projects. He’s also currently enrolled on the @Conditionsstudioprogramme

Board

Board NN boasts a dedicated board with members responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation as well as being advocates for NN and lending their specialist skills for NN’s staff to draw upon.

Interim Chair

David Danskin

David Danskin is a solicitor who has spent his working life giving advice about a wide variety of complex property development schemes. He has been involved in many interesting projects such as Stadium MK, Xscape and Theatre MK, as well as advising housing developers and local authorities. David has a keen interest in the visual arts and has served as a trustee of MK Gallery, being a member of the building committee during the construction of the recently completed £12m extension. He is also currently a trustee of The Stables, a music charity set up by John Dankworth and Cleo Laine in Wavendon, Milton Keynes.

William Chamberlain

William Chamberlain is a solicitor and social entrepreneur who, for the past ten years, has been developing a range of creative place-shaping and inclusive regeneration projects to help establish Hackney Wick and Fish Island in East London as a permanent, sustainable, creative economy alongside the large-scale redevelopment of the area surrounding the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

He was a member of the London 2012 Olympic bid team and moved to Hackney Wick in 2008. He founded the Hackney Wick and Fish Island Cultural Interest Group in 2010 to engage local stakeholders, creative practitioners, businesses, institutions and residents and encourage networking, resource sharing and collaboration whilst working together towards a permanent, sustainable creative economy. In 2015 he founded Creative Wick as a non- profit creative place-making agency and Hackney Wick and Fish Island was designated as one of London’s first Creative Enterprise Zones in 2019. He is currently researching part- time for a PhD with the Institute of Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University London.

Morcea Walker

Morcea Walker MBE, VLL (Vice Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire) is the current Chair of the Northamptonshire Black History Association and Chair of the Northampton Carnival and Cultural Arts. Morcea is a Governor at a local school and a Trustee at a number of organisations including Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust, Healthwatch, West and North Northamptonshire, Street Pastors, Community Law. She comes from Jamaica and has worked across several organisations across the county including providing Equity and diversity advisory to Northamptonshire Council.

Oliver Evans

Oliver Evans grew up in Northampton and studied at the University of Northampton, later completing his education at Goldsmiths College and the Slade School of Fine Art in London. Oliver has worked in various arts and cultural organizations and has been active as an artist, teacher, writer, and publisher.. He is currently the Senior Director at Maureen Paley, a contemporary art gallery in London, where he oversees exhibitions and artist development. Additionally, Oliver is on the Board of Directors at DACS, a Trustee at The Showroom, and a researcher for the Gallery Climate Coalition, promoting environmental sustainability in the art sector.

Amy Emmerson Martin

Amy Emmerson Martin also grew up in Northamptonshire and is the Assistant Curator of Contemporary British Art at Tate Britain. Her recent work includes Art Now: Steph Huang: See, See, Sea, an immersive installation exploring cultural and environmental impacts. Amy is preparing for the 2024 Turner Prize featuring Delaine Le Bas, Claudette Johnson, Pio Abad, and Jasleen Kaur. Previously, she curated Art Now: Zeinab Saleh and Art Now: Hannah Quinlan & Rosie Hastings and is developing the 2026 Duveens Commission. She assists with Tate’s Frieze Fund, acquiring works by Adam Farah-Saad and Tessa Boffin. Amy holds a BA and MA from The Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

Collette Griffin

Colette Griffin is a curator, artist developer, mentor, and arts writer based in Nottingham, working across the Midlands. Colette is the newly appointed Director of New Art West Midlands (NAWM), hosted by DASH, and part of a national network (CVAN) advocating policy changes across the visual arts. She has three years’ experience with CVAN as Regional Director of Contemporary Visual Arts Network East Midlands (CVAN EM), hosted by New Art Exchange. Colette was the Artist Development Curator at Primary (2020-2024) and a director of New Midland Group, delivering the NMG Development Programme (2020-2022).