I was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship in 2015 to research platforms supporting artists who are homeless, experience mental health challenges, or have learning disabilities across the United States and Canada. The fellowship involved working with a range of organisations, including Creative Growth (San Francisco), Creativity Explored (San Francisco), Hospitality House (San Francisco), Los Angeles Poverty Department (Los Angeles), and Gallery Gachet (Vancouver).

The research focused on several key areas of inclusive and socially engaged arts practice:

1) Collective working: In collaboration with Gallery Gachet, a gallery and studio based in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, I examined collective approaches to artistic practice and organisational structure, including shared decision-making, funding strategies, and creative planning.

2) Art spaces as gateways to wider support: At Hospitality House, I researched the open-door studio programme, which provides free studio and exhibition space for artists experiencing homelessness in central San Francisco. This study explored how the studio functioned as a key access point to wider support services within the organisation.

3) Radical museum spaces: I investigated the Skid Row History Museum and The Festival For All Skid Row Artists in Los Angeles, focusing on the role of radical and community-led museum models and events.

4) Public access to studio spaces: I examined Creativity Explored’s model of publicly accessible studio programmes and its impact on visibility and engagement.

5) Inclusive teaching methods: Across all sites, I explored approaches to inclusive pedagogy that support artists from diverse backgrounds and enable individual creative development.