Site Gallery (1998-2011)

Site Gallery Contemporary Art Gallery, Sheffield (1998 to 2011)

Various freelance roles over a number of years including:
Education manager, freelance workshop facilitator & development worker

I worked extensively at Site Gallery during my early years as a freelance creative practitioner. The gallery is where I delivered my first creative workshop in 1998. It’s where I put my first teacher training course into practice and cut my teeth on a huge range of creative community and outreach programmes, projects and workshops across black & white darkroom photograph, digital imaging, animation, film, installation and multimedia (2001 – 2004)

I joined the team again in 2009 as Education Manager working on arts, writing and media projects across South Yorkshire. Below is a summary of my key roles and work at the gallery over the years.

2009 – 2011
Roles: Education Manager, Development Worker and Facilitator

Key roles and achievements:

• I developed and delivered a programme of gallery related creative education projects [creative writing, photography, stop-motion, film, web] focused on 14 to 19s from schools, colleges and community groups in Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham.

• I devised and implemented the Site Young Apprentice Scheme as an ongoing opportunity for young people interested in arts, journalism and media pathways.  This included involving panels of young people in Site’s commissioning process and developing and delivering an intensive two work week experience programme with a linked Arts Award qualification. The scheme paved the way for the Site Young Producers and Society of Explorers.

• Devised and curated showcases of young people’s creative work including a city centre ‘slack space’ photograph exhibition informed by the French Motterhead Shops project, and online multimedia exhibitions

2001 – 2004
Role/s: Programme Coordinator, Development Worker & Workshop Facilitator

Key roles and achievements:

• I devised, delivered and assessed inventive creative projects, courses and workshops in response to: the exhibitions programme; facilities on offer; a wide variety of themes, addressing inclusion, building transferable skills, partnership projects, accreditations and the needs of a broad diversity of adult and young people groups.

• Initiatives I was involved in developing included: Fused (gallery-related arts projects for 14 to 18s) Aim Higher (working with schools) Widening Participation (community), NIACE, Developing Creativity (Sheffield Hallam University), Aim Higher schools programme, F.A.M.E Europe (sharing creation participation methods across Europe). Inter_active! Media project for young people (14 to 18)

• I developed long-term partnerships within the community, for example with: Somali Media Project, Young Women’s Housing Project, Nomad, Roshni, Awaaz, Lai Yin Association, Abbeydale Grange School. I liaised with community and school groups to encourage them to come into the gallery and to participate in innovative programmes of workshops, courses and projects, [including the Deaf Youth Centre, Lai Yin Association, and the Somali Youth Project].

• For 2 years I lead the gallery’s interactive media programme of workshops for young people (14 to 18) on bi-monthly Saturdays. The workshops focused on everything from staged photography and animation to film editing and installation. Often a theme or a technique would relate to a current exhibition.

• Co-represented the gallery in Finland through a European partnership project [FAME -Forum of Active Methods in Education] – in which organisations from Finland, Spain and the UK, shared methods for encouraging inclusion and education through creativity. Following exploratory work at the gallery, I delivered a workshop and presented case studies and documentation to academics and professionals in Helsinki. I also drew on an educational study I wrote during my teacher training exploring ‘The Educational Benefits of Modern Arts Organisations’.
• I contributed to ENGAGE [the National Association for Gallery Education] through case-studies and events.