Helen Marriage

Helen Marriage is CEO of creative company Artichoke which has established benchmarks for public art over the last 20 years.  Notable events include The Sultan’s Elephant by Royal de Luxe (2006); Lumiere festivals in Durham, Derry~Londonderry and London; Sanctuary and Temple by artist David Best and Antony Gormley’s One & Other on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.  For the 1914/18 commemoration of the First World War, Artichoke produced Processions in 100 partnerships across the UK.  In response to an invitation from Liverpool European Capital of Culture, the company masterminded the arrival of La Princesse by La Machine into the city and for the UK Cultural Olympiad worked with directors Deborah Warner and Fiona Shaw on Peace Camp seen at nine coastal sites in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Helen’s interests centre on art, civic disruption, public engagement and the transformation of cities. 

In 1990 Helen initiated the first Arts & Events programme at Canary Wharf.  In 2012 she was awarded a Loeb Fellowship from Harvard. She was given an MBE for Services to the Arts in 2016.  She is a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.  She is currently working on the redesign of Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC for the National Capital Planning Commission.  In 2019 she was made Creative Director of Galway 2020.  She chairs the board of IOU Creation Centre in Halifax. In 2023 she was made an NED of York Central Ltd and is currently involved in the redevelopment of the largest brownfield regeneration site in the UK