Curriculum Vitae
Helen Whittaker MBE is the award-winning Creative Director at Barley Studio, York. She has over 30 years of experience in designing and making stained glass windows and architectural sculptures in copper and glass, and has completed more than 100 commissions for both ecclesiastical and secular settings.
Using her knowledge, experience and skills in a wide range of artistic techniques, Helen has collaborated with two Royal Academists, David Hockney and Hughie O’Donoghue, to create windows for Westminster Abbey.
Helen is Upper Warden to the Court of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers, a Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, a Brother of the Art Workers Guild and an Honorary Craftsperson Member of the Company of Merchant Taylors of York. She is a Craft Scholar of the Prince’s Foundation (now the King’s Foundation), having received the prestigious Hancock Medal for High Achievement after completing their MA in Visual, Islamic and Traditional Arts.
Helen actively promotes the art and craft of stained glass to a variety of audiences, and has appeared in several television programmes about her work. For the Glaziers Foundation she chairs the Education and Training Committee, having previously chaired the Stevens Architectural Glass Competition and supported the Glaziers Education Partnership. As head judge she supported the “Reflections of the Lord Mayor” roundel competition.
EDUCATION
Sept 2010 – July 2012: FdA/BM (1:0) Business Management – Leeds Metropolitan University.
Sept 1996 – July 1998: MA Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department (VITA) (Specialising in Stained Glass) – Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture, London.
Sept 1993 – June 1996: BA Hons (2:1) Three Dimensional Design; Glass with Ceramics (Specialising in Stained Glass) – University of Sunderland.
AFFILIATIONS
2024: Honorary Craftsperson Member of the Company of Merchant Taylors of York.
2025/26: Upper Warden of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers.
2017: Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters.
2017: Brother of the Art Workers Guild.
SELECTED AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
2024: Awarded MBE “for services to the creation and conservation of stained and architectural glass art”.
2019: Featured in ‘CRAFT IS GREAT’ – UK Government Campaign showcasing British talent.
2019, 2015, 2006: Master’s and Craftsmanship Awards – York Guild of Building.
2006: Hancock Medal for High Achievement – The Prince’s Foundation.
2004: Stevens Competition: Commendation and Prize for Craftsmanship – The Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass.
2002: Stevens Competition: Commendation and Commissioned – Ellerton Church Preservation Trust.
2002: Travelling Scholarship: Stained Glass Creation in Germany – The Prince’s Foundation.