Jennifer Cleary has been named as the Director of Culture and Creative Industries helping to keep the arts at the heart of the city’s ongoing growth and help more people and communities experience and take part in Manchester’s thriving cultural offer.
Jen has more than 20years experience working as a senior leader in cultural strategy, investment and major events, currently as Director, Combined Arts and North at Arts Council England (ACE).
At ACE she's led on new partnerships, programmes and opportunities driving ambition and equality, including the new Inclusive Sport and Culture Festival in partnership with UK Sport, and the Theatre Breakthrough Fund targeting new and ambitious ideas by Black, Asian and ethnically diverse theatre makers in the North.
Previously, Jen was Director of Creative Engagement at Manchester International Festival, leading award-winning programmes of participatory commissioning and producing, artist development, education and engagement, talent development and fundraising. She also played a key role in the early development of the Greater Manchester Cultural Skills Consortium and the Factory Academy - aiming to transform pathways into the cultural industries.
Jen sits on the Internationalisation and Marketing Advisory Board for Marketing Manchester and has previously sat as a board member of the arts organisation Walk the Plank, who help deliver the annual Manchester Day celebration.
The Director of Culture and Creative Industries provides strategic leadership for Manchester’s cultural and creative sectors, ensuring that arts, culture and creativity are central to the city’s economic growth, regeneration, community wellbeing and international reputation.
The role leads delivery of Manchester’s ten-year cultural strategy, Always Everywhere: Manchester’s Cultural Ambition 2024–2034, while championing the development of creative industries across music, film, media, design and the wider cultural economy.
Working with cultural organisations, communities and businesses, the director secures investment, oversees major cultural programmes and events, and ensures that both world-class institutions and grassroots neighbourhood projects contribute to a more inclusive, creative and prosperous Manchester.
Jen will begin the role in October.
Jen said:
The arts are in the very bones of Manchester. As a city, our reputation is on a global scale and what Manchester has always done right is placing culture and the creative industries at the heart of its growth strategy. This means supporting and championing the arts at every level - from their national and international impact on the city to understanding how impactful the arts can be within communities.
I’m hugely passionate about the difference culture and creative industries make to people's lives - from their economic impact to their role in happiness, health and wellbeing, to the way they bring joy, curiosity and new perspectives to the world we live in. I’m really looking forward to being part of this ongoing story for Manchester.
Cllr Garry Bridges, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said:
Culture and the arts are at the core of what we want our city to be.
Manchester has firmly established itself as a cultural hub in the UK - from the grassroots events and performances that happen every day to the bigger events we've hosted and have been able to create a legacy from.
Culture is a big part of what makes our city tick. Not just its role in helping our economy grow faster than other UK cities but also making Manchester a great place to grow up in and a place that people flock to.
Jen has a great track record, and we look forward to working with her on the next stage of our cultural ambitions.
