Team

George joined Drawing Room in 2019 and is responsible for delivering our Comms strategy, overseeing digital and print content across our platforms. Previously he worked in art publishing and several public and commercial arts organisations. His favourite drawings at the moment are Stanley Whitney’s sketchbooks.

As Learning Curator, Betsy connects artists with local people through a range of participatory projects which centre drawing as a form of thinking, experimentation and community building. She arrived at Drawing Room through having a socially engaged practice using animation as a form of research and collective making, in various public contexts and educational settings.

Mary initiated the Drawing Room with co-founders Kate Macfarlane and Katharine Stout in 2000 and has co-directed the organisation since. She has worked in the visual art sector for over 30 years. As Senior Curator at the Contemporary Art Society, she managed the Special Collection Scheme, an Arts Capital Lottery project to develop nineteen specialised contemporary art collections for fifteen museums and galleries throughout England, from 1995- 2005. She worked on curatorial development programmes and collection schemes at the CAS since 1993. Prior to this, she worked at Arts Council National Touring Exhibitions, the British Council and several commercial galleries in London.

Mariana started with Drawing Room in 2023, joining from the Exhibitions team at Two Temple Place. Her current focus is preparing the new gallery site to open to the public in September, and beyond that her principle responsibilities will be managing the gallery, overseeing visitor services and developing Drawing Room’s audience engagement. Her favourite drawings can be found in Yoshitomo Nara’s Drawing File, which she discovered in the library of Nagoya City Art Museum.

Kate is a curator and writer based in London and is co-founder and co-director of Drawing Room, London.  She began her career in the public visual arts sector at Riverside Studios in 1984 and co-founded Drawing Room in 2000. Since that time she has co-devised the organisation’s vision and programme. Recent curatorial projects include Close: Drawn Portraits (Drawing Room, 2018); A Slice through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings (Drawing Room and Modern Art Oxford, 2018); Dove Allouche – Mea Culpa of a Sceptic (The Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, Paris) 2016; Line (Lisson Gallery, London) 2016. Recent writing includes: ‘Graphic Witness’ in A Companion to Contemporary Drawing, (Wiley Blackwell , 2019); ‘Intimate Reflections’ in Auto Fictions – Contemporary Drawing, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Germany (2018); ‘Drawing as Thinking through Material Encounter’, in A Slice through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings (Modern Art Oxford, 2018). Kate studied art history and education at Cambridge University (1979-83).

Jacqui has been part of the Drawing Room team since 2011. She is currently a recipient of a Curatorial Research Grant from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (2023), exploring the role that drawing has played within feminist activism, resulting in an exhibition at Drawing Room in early 2024. As Exhibitions Manager, she has managed the delivery of over 35 exhibitions and contributed to the understanding of the medium of drawing through research, curation of exhibitions, writing, and programming of events. Independently, she has a particular interest in artists whose spiritual development has evolved in tandem with their artistic output. Research areas include the drawings and works on paper of British artist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun.

Genevieve joined Drawing Room in 2022 and since then has been coordinating the ROCK PAPER SCISSORS programme, which puts children at the centre and explores with them, their teachers, schools and families what drawing can be. She is currently on a mission to visit a different gallery every week.

Emma recently moved to London to join Drawing Room, and is responsible for delivering the first exhibitions in the brand new gallery. Emma has a background in interior design, exhibition design, and has curated several exhibitions and events across Manchester and Lancaster. Her favourite drawings at the moment are by Emma McNally.

Yamuna joined Drawing Room in 2013 to help set up the library and looks after the development of the research collection and programme. She studied BA Art History, MA Contemporary Art Theory, and MA Library & Information Studies and her current research interests include community publishing, and auralities.

Katharine is Director of Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea and Associate Director at Drawing Room. Previously she was Deputy Director at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) London. Her book, Contemporary Drawing: From the 1960s to Now was published by Tate publishing in 2013.

Lulu joined Drawing Room in 2021, initially starting as a Gallery trainee. She now assists the Communications Manager and Gallery Manager with social media, film editing, data management and research. Lulu publishes independent zines and her favourite drawings at the moment are by Aleksandra Ionowa.

Amy joined Tannery Arts in 2022 and previously worked with Drawing Room from 2016 in various roles including Gallery and Engagement Coordinator. My favourite part of my role as Studio Manager is to support artists with affordable studios. I am also very passionate about arts education and work as an Artist Educator as well as having my own drawing practice.

Andrew joined Tannery Arts in 1996 and has been part of the leadership team since 2008. His role for Tannery Arts is mainly around property negotiation for studios, team management and developing studio policy alongside Fiona Long. As an artist he is represented by Hales Gallery (London/New York) and Von Bartha (Basel/Copenhagen). He also curates and writes and is a Professor of Contemporary Art and Reinterpretation, working at University of Gloucestershire and Kingston University.

Deborah Lerner joined Tannery Arts in 2023 after graduating from Camberwell College of Arts with a BA in Painting. Prior to her undergraduate studies she qualified as an accountant and had spent the last 8 years working for various charitable organisations, including a stint in Uganda at AFRIpads, the worlds leading manufacturer of reusable sanitary pads.