artist / curator / collaborator

  • ARTIST

    My practice explores identity and lived experience, often using materials from places I lived as a child, including rocks, sand and dirt. These are shaped into works across sculpture, installation, drawing, film and photography. I currently have a solo show at Eye Room, grounded.

  • CURATOR

    As an independent curator, I deliver projects with organisations including the National Trust, The British Library, Leeds Playhouse and The Mercer Art Gallery. I founded the Leeds Summer Group Show and previously wrote Snooping Through Studios for The State of the Arts.

  • COLLABORATOR

    I take a collaborative approach to my work, working closely with artists and partnering with organisations including Eye Room, an independent optician in Leeds, and Rushbond, a Yorkshire-based property developer.

WHY I’M HERE

I’ve been asked to come in and talk about what I do as a freelance curator, how I got here, and the kinds of projects I work on. I’ll also share a current project, FUAM, and what opportunities like this can offer you as students.

BACKGROUND

  • Studies art before moving into design

  • Early roles in graphic design and media sales in Australia

  • Moved to the UK in 2003, working in marketing at Leeds Arts University and Leeds Beckett University

  • Shifted into arts marketing roles

  • Became Director at Left Bank Leeds, where I began curating

  • Founded the Leeds Summer Group Show in 2015

  • Curated exhibitions and commissioned new work

  • Completed an eight-week research trip across Western Australia

  • Worked with Leeds Museums and Galleries

  • Freelance curator for the past five years

WHAT I DO

As an independent curator, I deliver a mix of client-led and self-initiated projects. I work with artists and organisations to develop exhibitions, commissions and public programmes, often bringing together different partners and audiences. My work spans galleries, heritage sites and non-traditional spaces.

SOME PAST PROJECTS

  • Leeds Summer Group Show, founder and curator

  • INF23 by Michael Shaw at Left Bank Leeds

  • Ruffles by Lorna Johnson at Knole, a National Trust property in Kent

  • Mapping Our Better Life with the British Library at Leeds Playhouse

  • Definitions of Drawing I & II at Sunny Bank Mills

  • The Mercer Open at The Mercer Gallery, Harrogate

  • Cat Barrett staircase commission for Leeds Corn X with Rushbond

CURRENT PROJECTS

  • grounded, my solo exhibition at Eye Room, Leeds

  • Steering Group for Situation Leeds

  • Leeds Summer Group Show 2026 at Leeds Playhouse

  • Consultancy project with Ilkley Manor House

  • Curator for Light Night Leeds

  • Making Space at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds

  • FUAM - last year I was on the selection panel and this year I’m curating it whilst Laura Claveria is on a career break.

FUAM

FUAM stands for the Friends of University Art and Music Graduate Art Prize.

It’s an annual exhibition at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery that showcases work by graduating students from Fine Art and Art and Design at the University of Leeds.

It’s been running since 2013, with two artists selected from the degree shows by an external panel and presented in a professionally curated exhibition.

The prize is supported by the Friends of University Art and Music, who promote and support public art and music at the University.

It includes both a judges prize and a People’s Choice Award, and plays an important role at that point of transition after university, giving artists visibility, confidence and a first step into exhibiting beyond the degree show.

PREVIOUS WINNERS

One example is Emii Alrai, who I first came across at her degree show in 2016. I later included her in the Leeds Summer Group Show, and then her work went on to FUAM, where she won the prize.

Since then, she’s gone on to exhibit widely, including at The Hepworth Wakefield, Henry Moore Institute and the British Museum. Her work is in both public and private collections, including Leeds Art Gallery and is now represented by Carl Freedman Gallery.

She’s not the only one, over the years a number of artists have used FUAM as a springboard into further opportunities.

2026 SELECTION PANEL

This year, the selection panel includes:

  • Vice-Chancellor Shearer West

  • Damon Jackson-Waldock, Director of The Art House in Wakefield

  • Khadijah Ibrahiim, poet and artistic director.

They will visit the degree shows on 17 June to shortlist two students from each course.

I will then curate the exhibition, working with the selected artists to develop and present their work in a professional gallery context. A small materials budget is available to support the development of new or adapted work.

The exhibition opens with an event for FUAM members, where artists have the opportunity to speak about their work as part of a curator-led talk. The panel then reconvenes to view the exhibition in situ and award the £900 prize, with the remaining artists each receiving £200.

The winner is announced at a closing event, where they are invited to speak in more detail about their practice.

YOUR FUTURE

What FUAM offers is a first step beyond the degree show. It’s a chance to present your work in a professional context, to be seen by a wider audience, and to begin understanding how your work operates outside the university environment.

It can build confidence, visibility and connections, not just through the exhibition itself, but through the people who encounter your work.

It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it can open doors, and for some, it becomes an important early moment in their development.

More broadly, this is about what happens next. Keep showing your work, build relationships, and stay open to opportunities, but also be proactive in creating your own.

Any questions?