Founding Director (2007-2026) The Common Guild
Dr. Katrina M. Brown is a highly respected curator and until recently founding Director of The Common Guild, the leading not-for-profit visual arts organisation based in Glasgow which has presented an internationally respected programme of artists’ projects, events and exhibitions since 2007. Under her direction, The Common Guild has worked with leading international artists including Roni Horn, Wolfgang Tillmans, Roman Ondak, Thomas Demand, Carol Bove, Katinka Bock and Nicole Wermers, and commissioned ambitious live and site-specific projects across Glasgow – from synchronised swimming performances and outdoor plays to a 2023 programme placing new work by five artists across eleven of the city’s public libraries.
Alongside her work with The Common Guild, Katrina has led major partnership projects across Scotland:
- Director of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art in 2010 and 2012, commissioning major public works including Susan Philipsz’s Lowlands and Jeremy Deller’s Sacrilege
- Associate Curator of Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland (2014), a nationwide partnership between the National Galleries of Scotland, Glasgow Life and Creative Scotland
- Associate Curator at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art on the Art Fund International scheme (2007–2011), developing the city’s collection of international contemporary art
In 2011, Katrina was awarded an Honorary Degree (D.Litt.) by the University of Glasgow in conjunction with The Glasgow School of Art for her contribution to the arts in Scotland. She has served as a judge of the Turner Prize, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards for Artists, and the Art Fund’s Museum of the Year, and is currently a trustee of Art Fund.
Before founding The Common Guild, Katrina was Curator and Deputy Director at Dundee Contemporary Arts and Exhibitions Curator at Tate Liverpool. She began her career on the committee of artist-run Transmission Gallery, Glasgow.