Emma Bowen
Emma has been working as an artist-educator and creative producer of engagement programmes for over 15 years, supporting audiences to engage with challenging contemporary art and using the arts as a tool for bringing together and activating communities. She has worked for arts organisations across the Midlands including 9 years at Ikon Gallery, and as a freelancer for Barber Institute of Fine Art, Sampad Arts, Sidney Nolan Trust and Bilston Craft Gallery.
As well as creating opportunities for others to make art, Emma has a background in sculpture, with a BA (Hons) from Central St Martins, and loves playing with clay. She is interested in site-specific art and is often found processing native clays when not tending to her allotments, chickens, or out walking with her standard poodle.
My memorable arty moment
Watching one of my all-time favourite artists, Giuseppe Penone, creating Soffio di Foglie (Breath of Leaves, 1979) for his exhibition at Ikon. He lay face down in a giant mound of leaves, in a silent gallery, leaving an indentation of his body and his breath. I then had the privilege of spending 6 weeks sharing his exhibition with hundreds of primary school children who made their own versions and interpretations of his work.