Natalie Melton

Creative Director
Crafts Council

As creative director at the Crafts Council Natalie Melton’s role encompasses artistic programming, the opening of the Crafts Council Gallery later this year, brand, marketing and communications, the publication of Crafts, our highly regarded print publication, and research activity including the recent Market for Craft report. She is a regular spokesperson and commentator on craft in the media.

Natalie has spent more than a decade working in craft. From 2012- 2018 she was co-founder and managing director of The New Craftsmen, a business which curates, commissions and sells unique contemporary objects rooted in craftsmanship and narrative and made by makers from across the British Isles.

As commercial director at Arts & Business (2005-2011), she oversaw the development of Crafted, in partnership with Walpole, a business support & mentoring programme for highly skilled makers.

Speaker Events

WALPOLE WEBINAR: Contemporary Craft: A Global Movement in the Making

18th Feb 2021
The total value of British craft sales increased from £883m in 2006 to over £3b in 2019, and the number of contemporary fine craft buyers has increased by almost 280% in the last 12 months, according to global platform Artsy.net. The pandemic has propelled an underlying trend to acquire the unique and handcrafted – with Millennials the driving force.