Join us for a panel discussion around shifting models of engagement in artistic and curatorial practice, specifically addressing the shift from ‘public’ to ‘civic’ engagement across the sector.

Panellists Polly Brannan, artist, curator, educator and Artistic Director at Open School East, Margate, UK; Marley Starskey Butler, interdisciplinary artist and social worker; and Dr Natasha Kidd, Associate Vice Provost: Creative Engagement and reader in Art Practice and Pedagogy at Bath Spa University; are hosted by Dr Marianne Mulvey, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, MA Fine Art: Curating at UWE Bristol.

In recent years, a shift from public engagement to civic engagement has marked art and institutional practices, and promised to embed artists deeper into social structures, policies and processes. What does this mean for artists and institutions involved in this shift? What has this meant for society at large?

In this panel discussion we ask these questions and more to three creative practitioners working with a notion of ‘the civic’ at the heart of their practice.

This event is open to artists and creative practitioners of all levels, who are either already working in this field, or are interested in learning more about social practice and engagement.

The space will be open for drinks and networking from 5.45pm, with the panel starting at 6pm. Following the discussion, there will be time for further drinks and networking.

This event is organised in partnership with UWE Bristol’s School of Arts.

Polly Brannan

Polly Brannan (she/her) is an artist, curator and educator. She’s committed to producing public art, social practice, strategies and programmes collaboratively with artists and communities, co-commissioning with them to create new work for the cities and places we live in. She is inspired by user-led design and the methodologies of learning through play.

Since early 2021 she has been the Artistic Director at Open School East in Margate, UK, a free, independent arts school and community space in Margate. She was Education Curator at Liverpool Biennial 2012-18 and Education Curator at Serpentine Galleries 2011-13. She is Founder and Artist with network Avant Gardening and was a member of art and architecture collective, Public Works from 2005-11. She has curated, delivered and produced commissions and projects internationally including: Triangle Network Fellowship, Ethiopia; Istanbul Biennale 2017, Turkey and Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India 2018; Making Worlds, Stiftung Künstler*dorf Schöppingen, Germany 2025.

Marley Starskey Butler

Marley Starskey Butler (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist and social worker. They explore themes of opposites, parallels, memory, love, loss, reflection, process, and play. Marley’s practice in social work has spanned child protection, fostering, adoption, and mental health, contributing to the promotion of well-being, social justice, and human rights. The intersections of art, social work, and Marley’s familial lived experiences in social work create the foundation and tools for them to process and understand the world, both within and around them.

Dr Natasha Kidd

Dr Natasha Kidd (she/her) is Associate Vice Provost: Creative Engagement and a reader in Art Practice and Pedagogy at Bath Spa University. Best known for her automated painting systems and large-scale participatory events, her practice research explores the distinct ways in which an artist learns and strategies for making these creative methods transparent, widening recognition and value.

Natasha has over twenty years of arts experience working with leading galleries, participating in research groups, delivering training, running workshops and contributing to the development of creative pedagogy. She co-leads Material:Pedagogy:Futures (MPF), a research network at Bath Spa University, Kingston University, University of Westminster, University of Bergen and UAL. She is a founding member of Inventory of Behaviours (IOB), which researches the rituals, traits and habits of artists in order to better understand the processes that constitute creativity.

Dr Marianne Mulvey

Dr Marianne Mulvey (she/her) is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, MA Fine Art: Curating at The University of The West of England (UWE). Between 2016-21 Marianne taught Curatorial Practice at the Royal College of Art (RCA) and was Assistant Curator and Curator, Public Programmes, Tate Britain and Modern, 2009-16. Other curatorial experience includes The National Gallery, The Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery and Gasworks in London.

From 2014-18 Marianne was a Trustee of Fierce Festival of performance in Birmingham and Curator in Residence at Helsinki International Artists’ Programme, Finland in 2016, and The Feminist Library, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia in 2018. The recipient of a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Award between Tate and RCA, she graduated with: ‘Becoming Public(s): Practising the Public Programme in the Contemporary Art Institution’ in 2021. Marianne’s current research ‘Working The Workshop’ funded by UWE explores the rise and function of the workshop in contemporary art and institutional practice.