Kathy McArdle
Trustee, Chair
Appointed December 2023
Kathy has been at the heart of cultural and creative education throughout her career.
In Ireland, she was the first national Development Officer for the National Association for Youth Drama and went on to lead the Abbey Theatre’s national outreach and education programme in the 1990s. In the UK, she has held senior creative roles including Artistic Producer for Fuse: New Theatre for Young People and Programme Director for the Liverpool City Region Cultural Offer Pathfinder with the Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium.
Through the 2010s, Kathy increasingly worked through place partnerships linking the public, private and voluntary sectors. She established Quays Culture at Salford Quays to widen young people’s access to culture, and helped to found Nottingham’s Cultural Education Partnership in its early years.
She has continued to weave creative and cultural education as a golden thread through every role. With the British Council (2017–2020) she was Director of England and Global Cities, before moving into local government as Service Director for Regeneration and Culture at Barnsley Council (2021–2024) and now as Executive Director for Place and Growth at Cheshire West and Chester Council. In these roles she has overseen museums, libraries, archives, arts and culture, creative learning and creative health, while also working closely with Combined Authorities in South Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester. She is now playing a central role in shaping Cheshire and Warrington’s Devolution programme.
A passionate advocate for lifelong creative learning, Kathy sees cultural education as a right for every child and young person, and as vital preparation for life and work in a complex world.
She became Chair of Curious Minds in November 2023 and is proud to see the organisation flourish as a National Portfolio Organisation with growing national influence and reach.
