Lauren Baker is Innovation and Research Assistant for Creative Fuse at Newcastle University Business School, having recently completed her doctoral studies at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD), University of Dundee. As part of the collaborative team that makes up the Creative Fuse project, Lauren delivers on programmes of workshops with North East creative businesses. These workshops feed in to research outputs that address issues of entrepreneurship, innovation, and the creative industries.

Lauren’s professional background includes curatorial practice in both public and private galleries and museums, as well as freelance workshop facilitation in textiles, ceramics, and paper craft. Originally trained as a textile designer, Lauren has significant experience in the craft sector as a maker which she has been able to share with others through the development of workshops, exhibitions, and creative events. These activities are carefully balanced (and sometimes combined) with visiting beaches, walking woodlands, and tending to a yard full of strawberry plants.

Lauren’s research interests include craft enterprise, unconventional forms of entrepreneurship, and creative identities. As a part of the Scottish Graduate School of Arts & Humanities (SGSAH) Creative Economy Knowledge Hub, Lauren’s doctoral research explored the role of organisational programmes in the development of the entrepreneurial profiles of craft makers in Scotland. This has seen Lauren working with several organisational partners, including Craft Scotland and the American Craft Council, to create knowledge that contributes to both theory and practice. Collaboration and partnership is vital to Lauren, who places high value on the relationships and stories that emerge when working this way. 

Lauren's teaching experience encompasses both formal teaching in higher education as well as leading on informal art & design workshops and activities delivered with organisational partners such as public museums and galleries. This includes:

Entrepreneurship - MSc Design for Business, DJCAD

Research Methods - BA Product Design, DJCAD

• Baker L. Unconventional Craft Identities: Acknowledging Alternative Approaches to Enterprise in Scottish Craft. Makings 2021, 2(1), 1-16.
• Baker L, Valentine L, Cooper S. Designing Craft Opportunity: An Entrepreneurial Approach To Creating The Craft Scotland Summer Show. The Design Journal 2019, 22(sup1), 123-135.