Helen Whittaker

Helen Whittaker
MBE
Born (1974-07-23) 23 July 1974
Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, England
Alma materLeeds Beckett University
University of Sunderland
Prince's Foundation
Known forStained glass
ElectedArt Workers' Guild
British Society of Master Glass Painters

Helen Whittaker (born 23 July 1974) MBE is a British artist and designer. She is best known for her stained glass windows and architectural sculpture in glass and copper.

Biography

Whittaker was born on 23 July 1974 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside.[1] She studied a foundation degree in Business Management at Leeds Beckett University[2][3] and 3D Design in Glass and Ceramics at the University of Sunderland, then was a Craft Scholar of the Prince’s Foundation.[1][4][5]

Whittaker is a British artist and designer, best known for her stained glass windows and architectural sculpture in glass and copper.[1] She is the Creative Director at Barley Studio, based in York.[6] She is a member of the Art Workers’ Guild[7] and a Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters.[4]

In 2019, Whittaker featured in a UK Government campaign to showcase British creative talent.[8]

In 2024, Whittaker was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s 2024 Birthday Honours.[9][10][11] She was elected as one of the first two honorary craftspersons' of York's Company of Merchant Taylors, alongside stonemason Freya De Lisle, having designed and created the East Window in the Great Hall of the Merchant Taylors Hall in York.[12]

Works

Stained glass

Whittaker's window depicting St Ethelburga at St Ethelburga's Bishopsgate, London

Whittaker won the Stevens Competition Commission in 2002 to create a new east window for Ellerton Priory in Swaledale, North Yorkshire.[5]

In 2009, Whittaker designed and created a stained glass window depicting St Ethelburga at St Ethelburga's Bishopgate in London.[13][14] That year, she also designed and created a stained glass window for St Mary's Church in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, which was dedicated by the Archbishop of York John Sentamu.[15] She designed the stained glass window celebrating the Bicentenary of the Bramley Apple for Southwell Minster in Southwell, Nottinghamshire.[4][16][17]

Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire

In 2014, Whittaker worked on a restoration project at St Brandon’s Church, in Brancepeth, County Durham, which was completed sixteen years after a devastating fire. The project included designing a stained glass window inspired by the story of Brendan the Navigator as told in The Voyage of Saint Brandon.[18]

In 2015, Whittaker designed and created a stained glass window commemorating troops who served in the War in Afghanistan at the All Saints Church, Pavement in York. The window pays a special tribute to three men from York who were killed in action, with the names recorded on individual stones alongside their regimental badges.[19] The window appeared on ITV4’s Made in Britain television show in 2021.[9]

In 2018, Whittaker created a stained glass window celebrating the reign of Queen Elizabeth II's for the north transept of Westminster Abbey. The design for the window was by artist David Hockney.[20][21]

In 2023, Whittaker designed and created a new stained glass window for All Saints Church in Wetheringsett in Suffolk.[22] That year, she also worked on the largest stained-glass installation in the Philippines, designing six 20 metre high windows for a new space at Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel in Filinvest City in Muntinlupa.[23]

In 2024, Whittaker designed and created a new stained glass window for Selby Abbey in Selby, North Yorkshire. The piece depicts "the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he awaits his betrayal and arrest" and is the Anglican churches' first new stained glass window in ninety years.[24][25][26][27]

Other works include autumn themed window at St Peter and St Mary Church in Stowmarket, Suffolk (2006);[28] a window at the Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly, Westminster, London (2008); the Tree of Jesse Window at St Mary’s Priory Church in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales (2016); and the "Hope" window at St Michael's Church in Highgate, London (2024).[4][5]

Sculpture

Whittaker has produced copper sculptures for Beverley Minster in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, where she has also worked on stained glass windows.[29][30]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Whittaker, Helen, ( born 23 July 1974), designer and artist, since 1998, and Creative Director, since 2012, Barley Studios Ltd, York", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2025, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U279060, ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4, retrieved 12 July 2026
  2. ↑ "Leeds Beckett graduates shine in King's Birthday Honours". Leeds Beckett University. Archived from the original on 13 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  3. ↑ "Stained Glass". Reading the Past. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Helen Whittaker". British Society of Master Glass Painters. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Whittaker, Helen". Visit Stained Glass. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "Meet the Yorkshire stained glass window experts keeping an ancient craft alive". The Yorkshire Post. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  7. ↑ "Helen Whittaker". Art Workers' Guild. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  8. ↑ Laycock, Mike (28 September 2019). "Stained glass artist Helen Whittaker stars in new Government campaign". York Press. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  9. 1 2 Connell, Dylan (15 June 2024). "York stained glass artist made MBE". York Press. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  10. ↑ Connell, Dylan (9 February 2025). "'It just felt so right': York artist reunited with King Charles to receive MBE". York Press. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "Glass artist Helen Whittaker awarded MBE in King's Birthday Honours List". Contemporary Glass Society. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Haydn (15 July 2024). "Something new for ancient York society". York Press. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, London". Barley Studio. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Hibbert, Christopher; Weinreb, Ben; Keay, John; Keay, Julia (9 September 2011). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Pan Macmillan. p. 757. ISBN 978-0-230-73878-2.
  15. ↑ "Archbishop dedicates Helen Whittaker's window". York Press. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "Minster's apple window completed". BBC News. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  17. ↑ Gould, Laura. "A view to an apple". Fruitnet. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  18. ↑ Tallentire, Mark. "Sixteen years on from devastating fire, £3m repair job on Brancepeth's 1,000-year-old church finally completed". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  19. ↑ "Window at All Saints Pavement York dedicated to troops". BBC News. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "David Hockney to design Queen's Westminster Abbey window". BBC News. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  21. ↑ "Westminster Abbey Queen's Window by David Hockney revealed". BBC News. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  22. ↑ Wilson, Elisabeth (18 April 2023). "Money left in will sees new historic stained glass windows for Suffolk church". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  23. ↑ Laycock, Mike (3 January 2023). "York expert designs largest stained glass window ever made in Philippines". York Press. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  24. ↑ Russell, Rachel (25 March 2024). "Selby Abbey gets first new stained glass window in 90 years". BBC News. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  25. ↑ Lewis, Stephen (28 February 2024). "York stained glass designer creates Selby Abbey's 'first new window for 90 years'". York Press. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "Selby Abbey's Stained Glass To Be Sacred Not Extinct". Mag North. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "BBC Radio York, Selby Abbey: The story of the new stained glass". BBC Radio York. 25 March 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  28. ↑ Brocket, Jane (31 May 2018). How to Look at Stained Glass: A Guide to the Church Windows of England. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-83860-870-5.
  29. ↑ The Spectator. Vol. 296. The Spectator. 2004. p. 100.
  30. ↑ "Retroquire Art". Beverley Minster. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
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