Emma Manners becomes a HATCH Director
We are delighted to announce that Emma Manners has become the third Director at HATCH, along with Alison McIntyre and Nat Walton. Emma has worked with us as WOVEN’s Festival Coordinator since 2020 and it’s great to have her on board to help steer the direction of the company, especially in our current period of growth and development.
Emma brings over 30 years of experience working with communities and supporting individuals through creative and participatory practice. With an early background in textiles, she began her career as a community artist before moving into youth and community work, where she developed a strong track record in the Third Sector.
Throughout her career, Emma has led and managed innovative projects that place young people’s voices at the centre. She has been actively involved at a regional level, contributing to and chairing both operational and strategic groups to influence practice and policy.
From 2014, Emma worked as a freelance youth project consultant, specialising in participation, quality standards, and alternative education. Her work has included developing alternative education programmes, lecturing and supporting students at higher education institutions, managing teams within careers organisations, and helping organisations such as Healthwatch strengthen their young people’s participation.
Alongside this, Emma has maintained her own creative practice as an artist and maker. By 2022, her work became fully focused within the arts, both through her personal practice and in supporting others. Since 2021 she has been coordinating the WOVEN Festival, working closely with co-Director Nat Walton and project teams to deliver multiple successful festivals.
Emma is also a Director at Fabrication Crafts, a social enterprise dedicated to supporting artists and makers, particularly those experiencing social isolation or at the early stages of their careers. The organisation operates through high street venues in Leeds and York, using retail spaces, studios, exhibitions, and community projects to nurture creativity and support sustainable careers in the arts and crafts sector.
Her own artistic work is inspired by botanicals and explores processes such as photography and cyanotype, often incorporating natural materials including pressed flowers. Her work is exhibited and sold primarily through Fabrication, but this has enabled sales to customers across the globe.
Filed under: Directors