Panel discussion featuring panellists who have successfully transitioned from academic research to thriving careers in the Arts, Museums, and Heritage industry.

Dr Kate Keohane Affiliate Researcher, Sir Frank Bowling Studio

Dr Kate Keohane is a Career Development Fellow in Art and Wellbeing at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford. She is a specialist in contemporary art, small island spaces and storytelling. Her teaching takes place primarily through the Ruskin School of Art, as well as through transnational community engagement initiatives. Kate has recently been appointed as a director of Art Hx, a research platform run through the University of Princeton for the study of the remedial potential of art. Throughout her career, Kate has prioritised working closely with living artists and is currently an affiliate researcher with the studio of Sir Frank Bowling OBE.

Carmen Denia, Audiences & Content Assistant at the Ashmolean Museum

Carmen works as an Audiences & Content Assistant at the Ashmolean Museum. In 2022, she read for an MSc in Digital Scholarship, having previously helmed a small seminary library and pursued graduate studies in religion and the arts. Outside of work, her interests span dance, birdwatching with her family, and helping small charities with collections management and digital design.

Dr Gemma Plumpton, Executive Assistant to the Director, Chatsworth House Trust

Gemma is the Executive Assistant to the Director of Chatsworth House Trust, the charity that cares for and shares Chatsworth house, garden, parkland, and much of the Devonshire Collections. In this role she supports the Director to implement and achieve the charity’s strategic ambitions for the coming years, including both supporting and leading a variety of projects. Gemma completed her doctoral research in February 2024, supported by the AHRC through a collaborative doctoral partnership between the National Gallery, London, and the University of Leeds. Her thesis was entitled ‘Collecting Continental Old Masters for Harewood House, Yorkshire: British cultural heritage and aristocratic survival, 1916-1947’. Prior to this she completed a Masters thesis on the scholar-dealer James Byam Shaw (1903-1992) and his support for institutional collection. Gemma previously worked at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and Harewood House Trust, Leeds. Her current role at Chatsworth House Trust builds on her interest in country houses and their future, and the compatibility of private ownership and public benefit.