At the end of January, we were delighted to host our first NCACE Evidence Café of the year and the 14th since we started the series back in 2021 as an online space to encourage people to come together for information-sharing and discussion on topics connected to the field of Cultural Knowledge Exchange. The purpose of these events is to bring together communities of interest around a specific topic and January’s theme was Artists working with universities.
The rationale for this particular session was to bring people together to help build our current research on better understanding and evidencing how artists are working with Higher Education, focusing on projects that include: research collaborations, public engagement, knowledge exchange activities and other institution-specific initiatives.
We used the session as a space for sharing three very different models of practice to not only give a glimpse into the rich diversity of this field but also to catalyse a wider conversation about the different modes and models through which artists and universities connect, research and create. Our objectives for undertaking this particular piece of research are broadly as follows:
- To better understand the diversity of ways in which artists (including writers, performing and visual artists as well as those working in community and participatory contexts) are working with universities
- To better understand the values and impacts of such work and to encourage discussion about models of good practice.
- To identify and articulate needs for future support (e.g. funding, leadership and other forms of training and communication)
We were pleased to be joined by many people prepared to share deeply valuable knowledge and insights including artists, creatives, researchers working with artists and other university staff engaged in areas such as research impact and knowledge exchange, engaged in commissioning, or otherwise supporting artists within their institution. Unsurprisingly, several participants assumed more than one role, reflecting the growth of practice research as well as an increase in creatives working in knowledge exchange/public engagement capacities.
After outlining our work so far, we followed with a number of presentations that demonstrated some of the diverse ways in which arts and research connect. David Harradine (Co-Artistic Director and CEO, Fevered Sleep and Professor of Interdisciplinary Practice, RCSSD) started with a powerful reflection on his work with the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama since 2012 and how it emerged, has developed and been supported since. He outlined how the work played a key role both in Central’s REF submission and also in Fevered Sleep’s practice, highlighting the importance of the flow of knowledge and impact back and forth between research and practice. Critically, he also emphasised an important and often overlooked point that ‘artists all the time are doing research’.
Our second presentation from Dr Morag Rose (Senior Lecturer, University of Liverpool and artist) and Elspeth Billie Penfold (textile artist) spoke to the roles played by researchers and artists on a specific, time-based research project; in this instance the Walking Publics / Walking Art: Walking Wellbeing and Community during Covid-19 project which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Morag–whose research interests include public space, access and equality in urban environments and walking as an artistic, political and cultural practice–was one of a team of Co-Investigators on the project. Elspeth was commissioned to work on one of the project’s Partner Commissions at the Museum of London Archaeology where she worked with the Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network to lead poetry walks along Whitstable’s Heritage Trail.
The third presentation from Dr Penny Hay (Professor of Imagination, Bath Spa University and artist) focused on the wider work of Bath Spa University as a major supporter of artist/university partnerships. Amongst other initiatives, she highlighted the Art Research Centre at Bath Spa; the eARTH research group which encourages imaginative approaches to the climate crisis through working with artists, as well as the long-running research and public engagement project Forest of Imagination (2014 - 2025). This powerful mapping of what one small university is doing to support artists was an inspiring point from which to open the conversation with those who had joined us.
We followed the presentations with a short reflective writing and information-sharing session via Padlet which yielded a wide variety of experiences and perspectives on the topic. We asked the participants about their experiences as artists, researchers and pracademics working within the artist/university dynamic, what projects they had worked on, what they most enjoyed about these collaborations, what challenges they encountered and how those challenges might be faced and mitigated in the future.
What participants enjoyed was the collaborative process, working with and helping students, exploring topics from new perspectives, developing innovative processes, learning new ways to approach their practice and/or research and also communicating that research. What they found challenging was administrative confusion and/or blockages, cultural and communication misunderstandings between artists and universities, limitations precarious and meagre funding posed to artists, lack of training from universities for working with certain communities, lack of capacity on both sides, issues regarding contracts and IP, logistics, recognition of the work, building trust within teams and a general lack of funding.
It was clear that there is a continued and ever growing appetite for artist/university collaborations but to make these projects run smoothly and be successful, they need to be better funded and administratively supported.
As we continue to evolve this work, we would particularly like to hear from artists, researchers and pracademics working on health, the climate crisis, placemaking, AI and disability; artists working in film and photography and those working in Scotland, Wales and the Northeast of England. If you missed the event, you can listen to our recording on SoundCloud. We are still keen to hear from people, whether artists or from universities who would like to contribute to the work. If that’s you or your institution, please do get in touch. You can email Noshin.Sultan@sas.ac.uk in the first instance.
Image: Forest of Imagination is a partnership between Bath Spa University, Grant Associates, Feilden Clegg Bradley
Studios and House of Imagination. Lloyd Evans Photo x Living Tree-22