The curators
These curators, appointed by the Big Art Trust, helped communities develop their ideas, choose artists, and manage their projects.
- Kerenza Hines (Burnley site)
- Patricia Fleming (Mull site)
- Vicki Lewis (Beckton site)
- Declan McGonagle (North Belfast site)
- Laurie Peake (St.Helens site)
- Wiard Sterk (Cardigan site)
Kerenza Hines (Burnley site)
Kerenza Hines is a freelance public art consultant and curator. She worked with Liverpool Biennial on commissioning pavilions for three neighbourhoods as part of the 2008 European Capital of Culture celebrations. She was also project co-ordinator for Preston's 'In Certain Places' temporary public art programme, linked to regeneration plans for the city centre.
Before that, Kerenza was involved in the 2006 'City In Transition' architecture programme for Liverpool Culture Company, and project-managed Silent Sound, a combination of performance and installation by the artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, for the inauguration of the A Foundation's new exhibition space in Liverpool.
Kerenza also works as a consultant for LIME, an organisation that links artists with health-care projects in Greater Manchester.
Before going freelance in 2005, Kerenza was the Public Art and Architecture Officer at Arts Council England, North West.
Patricia Fleming (Mull site)
Patricia Fleming is a freelance curator based in Glasgow who works with a wide range of local, national and international artists and organisations. She has established many significant initiatives in Scotland including Fly (now Market Gallery, 1996-1999), Fuse (1992-1999) and Satellite (1997-1999). She was curator at the Centre of Contemporary Art, Glasgow (1999-2001) and was the first curator for Wales at the Venice Biennale in 2003.
Recent projects include The Local, the launch event and social hub for the Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Visual Art 2008, and A Gathering Space with The Lighthouse for Scotland at the 11th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale 2008. Patricia is also a founding director of the Volume arts residency and events programme in London.
As well as curating the Big Art Project for Mull, Patricia is currently curator for a new health and social care centre in Barrhead, on the outskirts of Glasgow, and curatorial adviser for Central Station, an online arts project again based in Glasgow. She is the first curator to be invited to lead a European cross-curating initiative as part of European Cities on the Atlantic Arc, which will include projects in Glasgow and Rennes, in Brittany, north-west France. She sits on the board of Studio Warehouse Glasgow, and has been an active director at Wasps artists' studios since 1992.
In addition, Patricia regularly engages in professional development activity such as talks and workshops, including projects at Salford University, the arts organisation Midwest, the Cultural Enterprise Unit (Glasgow), Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (Dundee) and Bergen National Academy of the Arts (Norway).
Vicki Lewis (Beckton site)
Vicki Lewis is an independent arts consultant, commissioning curator and project manager. Since 2006 she has been Director of the Big Art Trust, which has overseen the process of delivering commissions in sites across the UK for Channel 4's Big Art Project. Vicki was also the commissioning curator for muf's artist-authored project to deliver a legacy for Beckton Alp and, as such, a springboard for the development of a significant commission within a longer timeframe.
As an independent commissioning curator and project manager, Vicki was responsible for Gavin Turk's Golden Thread (2004), at Goodwood Sculpture Park, West Sussex, and led the community consultation for Mark Dion's Hanging Garden (2005), in Southwark, south-east London.
Before going freelance in 2004, Vicki was Deputy Director of BALTIC, Gateshead, where she defined and delivered the pre- and post-opening programmes between 1999 and 2003. She was also the commissioning curator for, among others, Antony Gormley's Domain Field (2003) and Anish Kapoor's Tarantantara (1999).
Vicky was previously an exhibition organiser for the Hayward Gallery, from 1994 to 1999. She was also founding Director of the Diorama Gallery.
Declan McGonagle (North Belfast site)
Declan McGonagle's CV as a curator and director includes posts with the Orchard Gallery in Derry, the ICA in London and the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. He has also directed independent projects such as the first Tyne International and set up innovative public art and educational programmes.
As Orchard's first director, Declan was short-listed for the 1987 Turner Prize, and he has also served on the Turner Prize jury. He is an internationally respected commentator on art, acting as contributing editor to Artforum and speaking and writing widely on the relationships between art, artists, institutions and communities.
'I would say that art at its best, historically, has always been about communication rather than simply self-expression,' Declan says. 'In the Big Art Project, we are setting out to create a process, and ultimately a space in Waterworks Park, where art and communities can meet and communicate productively.'
Laurie Peake (St.Helens site)
Laurie Peake is Programme Director for Public Art for the 2008 Liverpool Biennial International Festival of Contemporary Art. Throughout her career she has been involved with urban regeneration schemes linking artists and the public.
Laurie was part of a small team that developed the Tate Gallery Liverpool, for example – the UK's first regeneration project to use culture as its driving force. She went on to manage a dynamic public programme at Camden Arts Centre, London, much of which involved artists working in public spaces. At the Arts Council England, North West, she maintained her focus on public programmes, particularly in the area of new media.
Laurie came to Liverpool Biennial from Alsop Architects, with whom she worked on innovative urban projects across the north of England. Alongside her job with Liverpool Biennial, she is currently on the board of Manchester's city life exhibition centre, Urbis.
Wiard Sterk (Cardigan site)
Wiard Sterk moved to the UK from The Netherlands in the early 1980s and for ten years worked in the theatre. In 1994 he joined CBAT, the Arts & Regeneration Agency, based in Wales, which commissions artists to work in urban development and regeneration projects. Wiard became CBAT's commissions director in 1998 and director in 2003.
Wiard's research into international art and design commissioning culminated in the first 'Urban Legacies' conference in Cardiff, in May 2004, which explored the impact of art in the regeneration and development of post-industrial cities. Wiard is a regular contributor to national and international conferences and also writes for the Art and Architecture Journal, Touchstone and Agenda.
Wiard has been instrumental in merging Wales's two leading commissioning agencies, CBAT and Artworks Wales, into Public Art Wales, of which he is now the executive director.
