Artistic Director & CEO Arts Collective
Emer Grant is the Artistic Director and CEO of Arts Collective (formerly NN Contemporary Art), a contemporary arts organisation and National Portfolio Organisation based in Northampton. Since her appointment in 2020, she has led the organisation’s strategic transformation, including securing and delivering a £5.2 million capital redevelopment, establishing a new permanent home for the institution and redefining its role as a civic cultural space and new model for artist-led organisations in the 21st century.
Her work focuses on contemporary art, artist-led infrastructures, institutional models, public space and interdisciplinary approaches to cultural production. She has curated exhibitions, commissions and public programmes internationally with organisations including Hessel Museum of Art, ISCP, Stroom Den Haag, Void Gallery and Oolite Arts (formerly ArtCenter/South Florida).
Grant studied at Bard College (CCS Bard), the University of York and the University of Brighton. She was selected as an Independent Curators International Fellow and has held visiting teaching and advisory positions, including at the Royal College of Art and Bard College MFA. Her writing has appeared in publications including Rhizome, Electronic Beats and The Miami Rail. She currently serves on the Area Council of Arts Council England and is a Trustee of Northamptonshire Black History Association. Grant contributes nationally to conversations on artist development, institutional innovation and the future of artist-led cultural infrastructure.