Kate Egan
Senior Lecturer
Textiles in Practice
Kate Egan is a Senior Lecturer and Employability Lead for the School of Art and Design, and an Institutional Lead Scholar alumnus focusing on enterprise. In her employability role, Kate drives the School's strategic approach to career readiness, embedding employability into the curriculum, enhancing placement opportunities, and improving graduate outcomes through cross-institutional collaboration aligned with Faculty and University goals.
Kate's innovation scholarship within LEED has developed initiatives such as SPACE: Start Up Cafe - an entrepreneurial space for MMU students, Art School Commissions - supporting students in their creative careers, and a staff-facing community of practice to share approaches around curriculum employability.
Kate brings to the Textiles in Practice programme a wealth of expertise from over three decades of cross-disciplinary practice as a Creative Practitioner. She has taught across multiple disciplines at MMU and other institutions, exhibited her work internationally, and completed major public art commissions for interior and exterior spaces. Her collaborative approach creates innovative partnerships that enrich both her artistic practice and her teaching, including running commission-based external projects that give students real-world professional experience.
Kate has served as Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Textiles in Practice, BA (Hons) Creative Practice, and BA (Hons) Embroidery at Manchester School of Art. In 2017, she was awarded a mini-sabbatical to develop a portfolio of speculative 'smart textile' samples, exploring the intersection of traditional craft and emerging technologies.
Collaborative work includes 'Carefully Descending Everywhere,' an installation created with Brendan Dawes for the Frontier Data Lab at PwC LLP London (August 2017), demonstrating her continued commitment to interdisciplinary innovation at the cutting edge of art, technology, and design.
Kate is currently exhibiting in the 2025 5th Hangzhou Triennial of Fibre Art, China.
Kate Egan is on the EPC pathway
Projects
Geofrey Manton MMU student commission
Geofrey Manton MMU student commission. Details…
Baker Tilly external commision with staff and students
This project involved staff and students working together for a commission brief for the new Spinningfield offices of Baker Tilly Accountants.2009 . Details…
Beachcroft external commision with staff and students
Beachcroft external commision with staff and students . Details…
Bruntwood Manchester One student commission 2017
Bruntwood Manchester One commission 2017 Vanessa Lam . Details…
Bruntwood Oxford Place student commissions 2017
Bruntwood Oxford Place student commissions 2017 Vanessa Lam. Details…
Cheshire Oaks Public Art student commission
Cheshire Oaks Public Art student commission. Details…
Miliners Wharf public space student commisson
Miliners Wharf public space student commisson. Details…
MMU Library Chat Zone student commission
MMU Library Chat Zone student commission. Details…
Primary One Europe Manchester and London student commission
. Details…
St Peters House Chaplaincy student commission
St Peters House Chaplaincy student commission. The quiet room walk way. Details…
Student Enterprise
In addition to the curriculum Kate runs external projects with staff and students. Working closely with Marcus Lord and Mark Beecroft the projects take the form of commissions for interior and exterior spaces for external clients. Details…
Textiles in Practice in Progress Show 2016
Curated show - Textiles in Practice in Progress Show 2016. Staff and student work. Details…
Research
Kate Egan is a member of the Design Research Hub.
Exhibitions
Egan, K., 2021. Out Of Place, British Textile Biennial, 10/2021 - 10/2021.
Cocchiarella, F., Shaw, A., McCullagh, J., Stephens, M., Grimshaw, D., Mulhearn, E., Kettle, A., McCullough, I., McCullagh, J., Hitchen, J., Egan, K., Aubrey, K., Raven, L., Gannon, L., Biggs, L., Setterington, L., Beecroft, M., McLeish, M., Threlfall, S., 2019. Radical Response exhibition in partnership with the International Association of Design Research (IASDR) Conference, Manchester School of Art, Manchester, 2/9/2019 - 5/9/2019.
Kettle, A.M., Brown, V., Grimshaw, D., Egan, K., Cocchiarella, F., 2014. A Place at the Table, 25/11/2014 - 18/1/2015.
McKeating, J., 2014. Scenes of Change, L'Aguille en Fete, Paris, February 2014.
McKeating, J., 2012. Hand Stich Perspectives, Knitting and stitching show Alexander palace London, Harrogate and Dublin, October -November 2012.
McKeating, J., 2012. Machine stitch Perspectives 2, L'aguille en Fete, Paris, February 2012.
McKeating, J., 2012. Pairings II: conversations and collaborations, Stroud International Textiles, Park Gallery, Stroud, April - may 2012.
Egan, K. and Dr Cutler, V, 2012. ‘Pairings II-conversations & collaborations’, Museum in the Park Stroud GL5 4AF, 28 April – 27 May 2012.
Webb, J., 2011. Pairings, MMU Special Collections, Otter Gallery Chichester, Fairfield Mill, Cumbria, September 2010 -.
McKeating, J., 2010. Machine Stitch Perspectives, Knitting and Stitching show, London, Harrogate and Dublin, Sept 2010 - Nov 2010.
Artefacts
Egan, K., 2022. 'Out of Place'.
Egan, K., 2021. 'Future Stitch'.
Egan, K., Dawes, B., 2018. 'The Jack Plug Universe', The Sage concourse Gateshead.
Egan, K., Dawes, B., 2017. ''Carefully Descending Everywhere'', PWC Frontier Data Lab, London.
Egan, K., 2015. ''Breathe'', Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.
Journal Articles
Egan, K., Turner-Pemberton, B., Potter, G., 2024. '"Out of Place": Cross-Cultural Collaboration and Virtual Space', Textile: the journal of cloth and culture, 22 (3), pp. 534-546.