Who I am…

Audience Eye is led by creative producer & project developer, Kate Norgate.

I am a freelance curator, programme manager, project developer & audience development strategist. In the past, I’ve been an archaeologist, a scientist, an archivist, a teacher, and an interpretation manager for a heritage organisation. I’ve worked in the arts since 2004 – creating and managing projects that build and develop audiences for culture, narratives & ideas.

I manage the storytelling programme at Cranborne Earthouse; I’m the Programme Manager for The Crick Crack Club; the developmental producer for Pandvani108, and for 5 years I was the commission manager for 3Monkeys.

What I do…

I work alone, with others and for others. I develop, produce and manage projects that solve specific problems, address specific needs, or fill specific gaps in audience development and people’s access to stories and ideas.

I hold that audience, artist and sector development go hand-in-hand.

I specialise in traditional narrative, communally held culture & intangible art: from curating building take-overs focused on the archetype of the wildman in myth, fairytale and contemporary society; managing cross-art festivals of fairytales for grown-ups in Victorian warehouses; to commissioning new work, and devising audience development projects for diverse partners…

Recent highlights have been:

  • Selling out 100% of shows at the 250 seat, Cranborne Earthouse, since rescuing it’s storytelling programme from closure in 2014.
  • Breaking the Wellcome Collection’s box office records for a Late Night Spectacular with the Wild Ones event I produced for the Crick Crack Club.
  • Filling the Fabularium venue with a festival of fairytales on London’s South bank, with >60% new-to-artform audiences.
  • Designing, making & installing a 25m x 8m blacklight labyrinth on the top floor of the Bargehouse Warehouse as part of the Angels aren’t just for Christmas festival, which I also produced.

Why I do it…

Human beings have been using the arts, and specifically narrative, to work out how to be human since forever. Metaphor and imagination are tools we all use. Culture is something we all engage with in some form or other. Stories know no boundaries – they represent a meeting point between people. These people are all audiences or potential audiences, and it is audiences that I’m passionate about.

In 2014 I participated in a survey to assess the level of my cultural engagement… which told me that I wasn’t engaged in the arts! I found myself in a category of people who are a priority for audience engagement projects. At that point I had worked at the front line of an performing arts organisation for 10 years, so this was initially very funny, and then very depressing. I have been concerning myself with what counts as culture and cultural engagement ever since…

Who I work with…

I work with performance storytellers, musicians, visual artists, magicians, filmmakers, academics, & curators. I work with institutions like the British Museum, the British Library & the Wellcome Trust; social enterprises such as Coin Street Community Builders; charities like the Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts; theatres and art centres such as Rich Mix, Soho Theatre, Northern Stage and York Theatre Royal…and many others.

Contact me…

If you’d like to work with me, please email hello@audience-eye.com