photo: unknown
Education and qualifications
MA Contemporary Curatorial Practice Birmingham City University, December 2008
PG Cert. in Curating Dartington College of Arts, October 2006
MA Fine Art Nottingham Trent University, July 2001
BA Social Sciences, Education, Psychology Open University, December 1995
City & Guilds Embroidery Chesterfield College July 1985/87
Certificate in Education Bretton Hall College of Education, July 1971
1st year of Dip AD Fine Art Kingston College of Art 1968-9
Foundation Bradford College of Art 1967-8
critical engagement within the social context, rural & urban, using everyday objects & actions
2021 Tiny Acts small performances in local places with @laalaas
2020 Just In Case Zine Library mobile zine library full of possibilities.
Co-zines inviting people to co-produce zines
100ZIP England/Italy: producing 100 zines each in 6 months @lemsford
Pockets of Time Sheffield/Dorset: micro-residency exploring social context of motherhood.
2019 OFTON FESTIVAL Derbyshire: 3 days of unpacking the notion of migration. Who moves in? moves out?
and why do people stay? Installations, workshops, performance, conversations
Pop-up Fringe SEAFAIR, Bridport: 20 socially-engaged events happening alongside Bridport Open Studios
to open a dialogue on the breadth of the arts. @popupfringe
Dare to be Different - Failure, the Artist and Social Change Bridport: What does failure, the unexpected
mean? Labelled chairs...passive audience–>empty panel...active audience
Usherette Social Works Live? Manchester: selling SEAFAIR zines for cash or personal objects. Do we
need our every move to be turned into data for someone else’s benefit?
2018 SEAFAIR Dorset/Devon/Somerset: a socially engaged art fair, a Social Works Get-Together creating a
loose affiliation of local SEA artists supporting each other in diverse ways
EQUALITea Derbyshire village hall/school/Alfreton precinct: co-production of a celebration of 100
years since the Suffragettes achieved votes for women
2017 There's a Place J28 Maisies Way Studio/online: curating artists' responses to the temporary
Glasses, glasses, what do you see? Chesterfield: BraveART digital images & installation,
contexts removed. Refuge children's fantasy and reality; kitchen table workshops
2016 Ofton Festival Alfreton, Derbyshire: training a team of young people to devise & deliver a dynamic
new arts festival in an area of high deprivation and low arts activity
Changing Tracks Pedestrian, Leicester schools: residency giving a voice to young people about the
effect of anti-social behaviour on communities and individuals of all ages
2012-15 Flaming Skirt Festival NW Leicestershire & Derbyshire: a fun Olympic Torch protest -> rural arts festivals
travelling by bus to village halls, celebrating stigmatised localities, + book
2014 Roll’N’Rock SpareParts Festival Fleetwood: encouraging spectator participation in a parade
2013-14 cicatrix macula (paratus) Tempting Failure, Bristol: live artist, body as site of struggle.
cicatrix macula (restituo) Speaking Out, Leicester: performer, women healing from the trauma of violence
(as SSoCiaL with Sophie Cero).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/110291174@N07/albums/72157646096289963
2013 Pointers Chesterfield College AA2A artist in residence: having conversations re creativity
Mentoring
Pockets of Time 2019 Sheffield creative mothers, thinking through making
Ofton Festival 2016 Derbyshire: young trainee festival producers
Flaming Skirt Festival 2015 Derbyshire cpd for socially engaged artists
Inspiring Enterprise 2014 Pedestrian: 1:1 business mentoring
1:1 mentoring 2013-present Sheffield: face-to-face, by skype/email for individual artists
Starter Studio Programme 2012-13 Yorkshire Artspace, Sheffield: socially engaged practice
On Reflection 2012 Pedestrian Window Curators, Leicester: reflection skills
WHart Young Curators 2009-11 Wirksworth: facilitating high profile commissioning and curation
Beyond Words 2009-10 East Midlands: exploration of creative evidencing for Arts Award
stepUp 2007-09 Creative Partnerships Derby: cpd. for BAME practitioners
Advisory teacher 1996-2007 Derby City Council: improving learning environments for young people with disabilities.
Strategic development
SEAFAIR 2018-present initiating a support network for socially engaged artist/producers in Dorset, Somerset, Devon
Models of Validation 2017-present stakeholder member for Axisweb's research project
Black Shale 2016-17 executive member of Black Shale cultural education partnership
ePARKERs 2015-16 seeking artists’ studio spaces in disadvantaged areas
Community groups 2014-16 supporting development in disadvantaged areas to dispel external stigmas and enhance cultural health
Free University of Liverpool 2011-13 protesting actively against injustice
AIR activist 2011 developing actions to support artists
Artists' Voice 2008-11 developing a nascent advocacy network of East Midlands cross arts practitioners
AIR Artists' Representation Working Group, 2009-10 devising a membership representation structure
caravan 2003-07 co-founding the Amber Valley arts organisation for 27 members; securing funding from Arts Council England, Awards For All, local authorities and others; managing projects and budgets. 3CYLINDERS, live art in rural settings around Derbyshire, 7 events, 84 artists, 1623 audience, 66 new works, Playmates arts workshops for very young children.
My back story is education in the social context, thinking critically. My work came down off the wall in 1999 during my MA Fine Art. It landed clearly in the social engagement space, was subsequently informed by an MA Contemporary Curatorial Practice and has been developing ever since.
Conversations, situations and the everyday have always been at the centre of my practice, offering passersby the opportunity to look afresh at our own space and lives. What we do with the connection, becomes shared experiences of art as process, art as traces, art as intervention. This is validation with integrity rather than following the status quo, celebrating the unexpecteds of co-production and a place for guerrilla actions – co-produced installations and participatory performance.
Now socially distanced under COVID-19, my work is manifesting as social comment zines and online events. My practice is both on and of digital platforms, so the platforms and formats, constructing and sharing, connections and dis-connections are structural and procedural – live streaming, digital recording/editing, sound and film, online publishing using social media. There are a myriad of possibilities for connecting locally and globally.
SEAFAIR: Zoom Fantasy, Pecha Kucha and OLD VESSELS, NEW RECIPES (an online dinner party raising funds and awareness for Bridport Refugee Support Campaign)
The Funcanny: Notes on a Conversation performed remotely by phone and live-streamed on Periscope and Facebook
Critical responses to #blakewalks Instagram simultaneous scores
Just In Case Zine Library challenges on social media: #JICZJAN @justincasezinelibrary
Sally is much more than a socially engaged artist. Her strength is focused away from herself. It lies in her generosity of vision and wisdom which she applies to provocations, collaborations and site specific events. She challenges the ordinary and, shaman-like, finds depth and meaning in the hidden, the near-invisible, the under-valued. Sally elevates each situation by not ignoring the worth of detail; in remnants, documentation, subtleties of interaction; and the magic of the written and spoken word.
Michelle Woolley, performance artist, 2021
‘Sally challenges me, prompts me to think of ideas I didn't know I had, she gives me courage to try things and explore what I am passionate about. She mentors in a way that questions my intentions, the whys, the whats and hows and equally accepts what I say without judgement. She is supportive and committed to her mentor (role) – sending job opportunities or bits of inspiration when she sees them and sharing her skills (from) her years of experience as (an) artist. Sally has been my mentor for over 4 years and each session I feel I learn more about my practice and what defines me as an artist, her continual support and confidence in me has most definitely helped me carry on practicing, when I have felt like giving up, and daring me to more with my art.’
Charlie Hill, artist, 2015