ABOUT US
The De Morgan Foundation is governed by a Trustee Board of nine Directors who are legally responsible for the Foundation and its Collection and oversee and promote its work. The Foundation has two members of staff.
Staff
Sophie Johnson Mora – De Morgan Museum Director
Sophie is a heritage professional and art historian, specialising in sculpture and women artists from before the twentieth century. She is passionate about celebrating underrepresented artists and sharing their inspiring stories with the public. After working at various large and small museums, Sophie found her passion for sculpture as an Assistant Curator at the V&A. This role inspired her to apply for a PhD in the History of Art at the University of Bristol, studying European women sculptors. During this time, Sophie worked as a Relationship Manager at Arts Council England, supporting museums in the southwest of England to apply for Museum Accreditation and explore development opportunities. Since then, Sophie has taught at the Courtauld Institute of Art and the University of Bristol. Most recently, Sophie was the Lecturer and Curator for Collections and Material Culture at Bath Spa University. Her current research interrogates the division of the fine and decorative arts concerning sculpture and ceramics in the nineteenth century.
Hannah Squire – De Morgan Assistant Curator
Hannah studied History of Art at University of Birmingham for her Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees, focusing her research on nineteenth century French and British female artists. Hannah is a specialist in the art of Pre-Raphaelite women artists. She began her career at Wightwick Manor, National Trust, where she uncovered the incredible women artists’ achievements that are wrapped up in the Manor’s collection, including the work of Evelyn De Morgan. Hannah spent eight years working for the National Trust. She curated the exhibition ‘Beyond Ophelia’, reappraising the art and poetry of Elizabeth Siddal, and had this research published. She also curated ‘Look Beneath the Lustre’, working with the De Morgan Foundation collection. This exhibition explored the influence of the Aesthetic Movement on William and Evelyn De Morgan’s work. Hannah has spoken about the figure of the Muse in the Pre-Raphaelite Movement for a podcast for the National Gallery. She co-hosts the Pre-Raphaelite Society podcast and creates content for the Society’s social media channels. Hannah also gives talks about her interests and research.
Directors
Jean McMeakin – Chair
Jean has held both operational and strategic roles in a number of large and small organisations in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors. Before her last role on a divisional board in the BBC, she worked in many areas of the BBC, including Global News and Television Production. As well as general management, she has specialisms in HR and talent development, OD, performance management, and has delivered large scale business restructuring programmes with productivity improvements and significant cost savings. Previously she has worked for a children’s charity, in the film industry and in the insurance, petrochemical, and manufacturing sectors. Jean is a Trustee of Bankside Open Spaces Trust and a Trustee of Leicester Print Workshop. She sits on the Advisory Panel of the Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery and is a former Member of the British Museum Friends Advisory Council. She has been a School Governor for the City of Westminster and is a former Trustee of the Friends of Putney School of Art & Design.
Patricia Astley-Cooper AMA, MBE
Pat is a museum professional with over 30 years experience of creating, developing and managing local museums in East Sussex and the London boroughs of Wandsworth and Richmond-upon-Thames. She has a BA Hons Degree in Art History from the University of East Anglia and gained the post-graduate Museums Diploma (AMA) during a two year Museums Association Studentship at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Since 2009 she has worked as a Learning Manager at the Horniman Museum and Gardens and as freelance museum consultant creating museum exhibitions for the NHS and Unite the Union and a feasibility study for a new museum for Gravesend. She has various volunteer roles as a museum adviser and mentor, currently for the Museum of Richmond and Dimbola Lodge Museum and Gallery.
Stephen Jones FCCA, BA (Hons)
Steve has over 35 years of financial and management experience across a number of industries. His current role is to work with businesses to understand their key challenges and to provide financial justification and consultancy support for them to address these issues. Steve’s experience in dealing with complex business issues will help the Foundation as it moves into its next phase of development.
Margaretta Frederick
Margaretta S Frederick served as Annette Woolard-Provine Curator of the Bancroft Pre-Raphaelite Collection for over 20 years. Upon retirement in 2022 she was awarded the title of Curator Emerita, and she currently works as an independent art historian and curator. She received her PhD from Bryn Mawr College in 1996, specializing in 19th-century British art. During her tenure at the Museum she curated numerous exhibitions of Victorian art, including her last, A Marriage of Arts & Crafts: Evelyn and William De Morgan. She is particularly interested in the work of women artists of the period and has written and/or developed exhibitions focusing on the life work of Marie Spartali Stillman, Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, and May Morris, among others. Recent publications include (editor) Evelyn and William De Morgan: A Marriage of Arts & Crafts (Yale University Press, 2022) and The Poetry in Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelite Art of Marie Spartali Stillman (Marquand, 2015). She is currently co-editing the collected letters of May Morris. She has spent her career working and/or volunteering for non-profits in the US, and looks forward to learning and contributing to the work of the De Morgan Foundation in the UK.
Lorna Lee, BSc (Lond), MA
Lorna is the Assistant Director of Destinations for the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Starting her career as a Conservation Research Scientist at the British Museum, she then moved to manage the visitor operations through the Great Court Project. Following a transition to local government, she directed the refurbishment of the William Morris Gallery in 2012, which won the Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2013. It is now a thriving cultural centre and Arts Council England national portfolio organisation attracting over 100,000 annual visits. She then led the development and delivery of the year-long celebrations in 2019 when Waltham Forest was the Mayor of London’s first London Borough of Culture. Lorna is now focussing on culture-led placemaking, optimisation of commercial returns, generating opportunities for local creative enterprise and supporting local young people from diverse backgrounds to develop skills to gain good jobs in the creative sector.
Kerri Offord
Kerri is a museum professional who has specialisms within the Arts & Crafts Movement and has a particular interest in the work of women artists and those that challenge the traditional gender construct. She is currently Curator at the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull Museums, and was previously Head of Curatorial at Lakeland Arts, overseeing the collection and programme at Abbot Hall Art Gallery and Blackwell, the Arts & Crafts House. Previously, Kerri worked at Watts Gallery where she created a gallery dedicated to the work of Mary Watts and reinstated the studio of G F Watts as part of a National Lottery Heritage Fund supported project. During this time Kerri also worked with the De Morgan Foundation when the collection first went on display at Watts Gallery.
Fred Clark
Fred is a Senior Associate at private wealth law firm Boodle Hatfield LLP. He is a corporate and commercial lawyer with a particular specialism in arts and culture. His clients include artists, private collections, museums and commercial enterprises such as art galleries and private dealerships. Fred has worked on a number of public art projects, high profile art loans and record breaking sales of art and has a passion for advising client in the arts space. Alongside this, he also maintains a more general transactional practice which mainly consists of advising owner managed businesses and entrepreneurs. Alongside his work at Boodle Hatfield, Fred is on the advisory board of the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair and is also a member of the Professional Advisers to the International Art Market (PAIAM), a group that meets regularly to discuss the latest trends and topics in the art sector, and the Art Lawyers Association. He is also a regular guest lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and the Institute of Art and Law.
Kathryn is a Chartered Marketer, and has 20 years professional experience from leading arts, leisure and heritage organisations including the British Museum, the Wallace Collection, the Design Museum and the V&A. Kathryn holds a First-Class degree in History of Art and Architecture from the University of Reading, and Master in Art History from UCL, in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester, and in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck. She also holds Chartered Institute of Marketing diplomas in both Marketing and Digital Marketing. She has served on the board of the Arts Marketing Association, and serves on the Advisory Council for Marketing Degree Programmes for London South Bank University. She currently serves on the boards of VocalEyes, a charity championing access to the arts and culture for blind and visually impaired people; the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in Islington, and the Association for Art History.
Richard Flowerday
Richard spent his professional life in Education for 39 years. Initially gaining a BEd Hons from Leeds University as an art specialist, he subsequently trained as a qualified teacher of the deaf. He developed local authority-wide services for hearing impaired children. Later his management responsibilities broadened to include services for children with visual impairment, autism, and early years special needs. He has represented the education of hearing impaired children at a national level with government and leading charities. He is now retired and lives close to Cannon Hall and is keen to support the regional development of the De Morgan Foundation.
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We rely on your generous support to care for and display this wonderful collection