Jo Wheeler

Member

For the past 25 years Jo Wheeler has been growing a practice as a visual artist, producer, evaluator and photographer, developing an approach to social engagement with a particular emphasis on working with people to explore landscape, place and our relationship to it. Jo has a particular focus in working collaboratively with young people and more marginalised groups, supporting people’s well-being and agency through creative engagement.

Starting points are usually visual arts driven but work has developed to also include textiles, processions, installation, sound pieces and more recently film. Jo is also interested in the relationship between process and product within these collaborations and is currently exploring these themes as part of my MFA (Fine Art) at Nottingham Trent University.

Jo has worked strategically with key national agencies in the sector including Arts Council England, The National Youth Agency, Arts Award, Artswork and produced and co-wrote Engage’s Envision - A Handbook: Supporting Young People’s Participation in Galleries and the Arts (2008). I’ve been an Arts Council England Arts and Quality Assessor for participation for the past 4 years.

Jo was Head of Youth and Community programming at Nottingham Contemporary (2008-10), before pursuing a freelance career, which has included work as an artist and producer on several ACE Creative People and Places schemes and Primary’s Making Place programme. Current projects include social practice commissions with Trust New Art at Attingham Park, Staffordshire, as well as ongoing work with the Youth Landscapers Collective for the National Forest’s Timber Festival. With curator Kate Stoddart and artist Hetain Patel, Jo is shaping The Few to the Many project for Mayflower 400 whilst also developing a social arts strategy for Historic Coventry Trust. Recently, Jo has worked as an external evaluator for The Renewal Trust’s Place programme and for Primary’s ESP artists exchange. Jo also works as a creative mentor with young people in care for Derbyshire Children’s Services. Recent experiments with film have led to my work, Circular Reference (2020), being exhibited online by Nottingham Contemporary.