Some of my favourite engagement projects, past and present – highlights to take a peek at while I work on rebuilding my site. Creative processes and making the spaces for people to connect to them is what my practice is rooted in. I don’t do this alone and here you can see what has been created through collaboration, reciprocity and sharing.
Lead Artist for Borough of Joy – Commissioned by Down to Earth Wigan / a borough-wide creative project led by community conversations exploring what joy looks like, feels like and can be! Through 500 conversations a creative programme was developed to support ways into connecting to joy in community through creativty. We’ve made hundreds of ‘joy drops’ – hand held, handmade creations that bring joy to the maker and the recipient. 5 special builds were designed & created as places to share the joy drops – cabinets, desks, benches and cupboards. Ideas and connections have been germinating like popcorn! This is a live project that continues to grow through collaboration with people of all ages – especially students at St Catharine’s C of E Primary School, and community members from Craft Hive CIC in Hindley, Fur Clemt CIC in Laithwaite & Wigan Libraries.
Associate Artist with Squash Liverpool / a long-term embodied seasonal approach that creating celebratory and contemplative spaces in our community to be present for the wheel of the year as it turns. Together we explore creativity in our community in collaborating with people, place and plants. We work in harmony with the seasons, the plants we care for in our growing spaces and the energy and dreams of our community members. This includes the Autumn Alchemy Exhibition (2023).
Engagement space creation & design / developing and initiating the Make Space model for National Museums Liverpool at the Walker Art Gallery & International Slavery Museum in collaboration with Curatorial and Exhibitions colleagues. This includes the most expansive version of this concept, FORUM, which was an embedded space in the Coming Out: Gender, Sexuality & Identity exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery. This created an accessible, inclusive and welcoming space for exploring creativity and connecting to artwork and ideas within gallery settings as an integral part of the visitor experience. It also created a space for community and audience voices and experiences to be shared, seen and heard. I also developed engagement spaces and resources for Arts Council Collection’s touring exhibitions, Breaking the Mould and Lubaina Himid: Found Cities, Lost Objects.
Creative Producer – Blackpool community supper clubs developed for LeftCoast / includes developing, initiating, producing and delivering a creative supper club & go see model in collaboration with community & team members across 6 neighbourhoods in Blackpool for 4 iterations (over 3 years, 2022 – 2025). In 2025 I co-created a community ambassador model and fellowship for community members to collaborate with us in developing and delivering these events as a creative production and delivery team. Our Go See trips took us to Manchester, Liverpool, Yorkshire, Coniston, and Wales to carry out community research and see what creativity and community yield in many different spaces. This includes Squash Liverpool, the Castlefield Viaduct, Platt Fields Market Garden, Altogether Otherwise, Wakefield Rhubarb Festival, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Granby Workshop, Granby Workshop, Homebaked, Kitty’s Laundrette, the Conwy Honey Festival, Lawson Park & the Farmer’s Arms with warm welcomes and sharing from the teams behind all of those places.
Learning resource development – one of my favourite processes to undertake! I’ve developed learning resources and interpretation for a range of galleries and museums including National Museums Liverpool (Walker Art Gallery, Lady Lever Art Gallery, International Slavery Museum), Arts Council Collection (Lubaina Himid: Found Cities Lost Objects, Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women since 1945), Yorkshire Sculpture Park (Connected to Place – a guide for walking and exploring site specific artworks by Andy Goldsworthy) and Borough of Joy. Many of these resources are made through collaborating with curators, artists and designers.
Angelica Vanasse / artist, creative engagement consultant, creative producer 