Directors
Jill Impey
Jill is the Secretary and a founding director of Participate. Jill developed Participate’s Summer Art School, and is an Arts Award assessor. She has worked in Adult & Further Education teaching Art & Design as well as TEFL. Jill is part of the fundraising committee and co-wrote a bid which led to a successful 2018 Arts Council England grant.
Keith Ashford
Keith is the Treasurer and a founding director of Participate Contemporary Artspace CIC. He was involved in artist-led studio groups in Newcastle during the 1980s and 90s. In Shrewsbury he organised exhibitions and ran community workshops for Shropshire Visual Art Network in Shrewsbury Market Hall, gaining useful local knowledge for when it came to setting up Participate.
Dan Catt and Elizabeth Turner have recently joined as Directors. Elizabeth was a founding director and has now rejoined the board. Dan is a new member to the studios.
To get in touch with one of the Directors please contact them on participatestudios@gmail.com
Marketing Team
Exhibition Team
This team sorts out the logistics behind the exhibitions at Participate.
Liz Turner – Exhibitions Coordinator
Jan Hunt – Exhibitions Coordinator
Bex Riddick – Exhibitions Liaison Officer
Wendy Riddick – Curatorial Consultant & Logistics Administrator
To get in touch with one of the Exhibitions Team please contact them on participateexhibitions@gmail.com
Volunteers
Benjamin Meeson
Benjamin is an artist who volunteers regularly at the Artspace. He has created a website for his work. Check it out here: www.benjaminmeeson.com.
James Fitzpatrick
“I volunteer at the gallery to help out and support the artists as best I can. There is always something happening / a job to do and it is good to be a part of it. I enjoy attending artists’ talks and exhibition previews’’.
James is an artist working in ‘new media’, creating digital 2D images in which he can emulate traditional media such as oil paint, watercolour paint, pencil and palette knife mark making. He believes that working with new media can be spontaneous or acutely considered.
Ryan Evans
Ryan is our longest standing volunteer. In his spare time, Ryan is a keen medieval re-enactment soldier.
Work Experience
We have had a number of work experience students at Participate, from several local schools. This is when students get to help Studio Artists create art as well as assisting with exhibition curation. These experiences help the students build community engagement while giving them valuable technical, practical, artistic and design skills for their own personal or professional development. To discuss the possibility of getting involved please email participatestudios@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Work Experience’ and one of the team will get back to you.