I relocated to Plymouth in 2005 with the express interest of supporting the development of visual arts in the city, which at that point in time I recognised as being hugely underserved and under resourced.
Through my work with PVAC (2009-2012) and in working with partners to establish Plymouth Visual Arts Programming Group, I played a significant role in the successful convening and delivery of six ambitious multi-site, city-wide exhibitions (The Animal Gaze 2009; British Art Show 7, 2011; Sinopticon 2012; Walk On 2014 and We the People are the Work, 2017; and British Art Show 9, 2022).
I worked collaboratively with partners through my role as Curator at MIRROR, over a fifteen year period to improve the provision of; access to and growth of culture in Plymouth. With the ongoing aim to improve the infrastructure and ecology for visual arts in the city and region, by always focussing on artists, and placing generosity and care at the centre of my work.
I am a founding Co-Director of CAMP (Contemporary Art Membership Plymouth) – delivering skills development, knowledge exchange & widening networks.
I built the ethos of MIRROR to support the professional development of artists in the region and the student community. I created & delivered mentoring opportunities; reciprocal learning situations; training through real world experiences and teaching; and commissions and curatorial models that serve the needs of artists at different stages of their careers.
Since 2007, LOW PROFILE have been actively involved in initiating a variety of artist-led projects to support our practice and that of other artists, curators and producers. Projects have included PL:ay, a 1 day festival of live art; Come to Ours a 3 month programme of exhibitions, events and interventions; self-made residencies with other artists; Jamboree 2015 & 2018 participant built residencies; helping to establish CAMP a member-led scheme for artists, writers, producers & curators; and self-published guides on aspects of arts management.
Visual Arts South West (VASW) is a sector support organisation founded in 2012 to advocate for the region, supporting independent artists, art workers and organisations to enable the visual arts ecology to thrive. VASW’s work spans the whole of the South West, from Cornwall to the Cotswolds and the Isle of Wight.
My role as Sector Support Manager (Jan 2023 – August 24) was to work strategically to support the needs of the Visual Arts community in the South West. During the 18 months in this role I initiated a new regional artists and artworker survey; worked with our Steering Group to devise and then fundraise for How Can I Stay? (I don’t want to not want to stay) a programme responding to the needs of rurally based artists and artworkers; initiated a series of published features that profiles artists with different lived experiences and varied approaches to learn more about ‘how’ artists are artists where they live and work; and commissioned/created new resources for early career practitioners and those working to gain funding for their work. Now as Co-Director of VASW I’m driven to develop resourceful initiatives that have a wide reaching impact for artists across the region.
