Teaching Artistry in Action 2025

Saphena Aziz

Director of Inclusion & Workforce Development, Curious Minds

Saphena Aziz is Director of Inclusion and Workforce Development at Curious Minds, a playwright and a long-standing creative consultant across the cultural education sector. With over 30 years’ experience as an independent teaching artist, she has worked nationally with schools, cultural organisations and funders to champion equitable access to creativity. Saphena has curated the Teaching Artistry in Action symposium to put artists who teach at the centre of the conversation, connecting practice, workforce conditions and policy, and pushing for a more visible, valued participatory workforce.

This symposium is dedicated to Jude Bird

Jude was a much-loved member of the Curious Minds team and a board member of the Royal Court Liverpool. A former dancer who became part of the very participatory workforce we are celebrating today, she was straight-talking, generous, wise and fiercely committed to children and young people’s access to culture. Curious Minds and the Royal Court have come together to dedicate this symposium to her memory as a fitting tribute to her work, values and passions. She would have hated the fuss, but loved that this room exists.

Madeline McGirk Rutherford

International Teaching Artists Collaborative - ITAC

Madeline is the Founding Managing Director of ITAC, building a global network of more than 5,000 participatory artists. With a background in education, theatre and filmmaking, she develops arts projects for social transformation and cross-sector collaboration. She also serves as Artistic Director for the Inner Development Goals Summit and Co-Chairs Healing Arts Scotland, regularly speaking internationally on teaching artistry and creative engagement.

Ali Eisa

Goldsmiths University

Ali is a London-based artist and educator, co-founder of Lloyd Corporation, whose work utilises sculpture, installation, performance and participation, often taking inspiration from informal cultures, local economies and found objects. He has 15 years’ experience in arts education, community and youth work. A lecturer in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, he also facilitates A Particular Reality, a collective formed by students, alumni and educators exploring anti-racist practice and participatory research based on values of equity and care. Ali trained in Fine Art and Visual Sociology and has a background in youth work and social circus.

Saul Argent

PhD Student, Goldsmiths University

Saul has worked in cultural education for a decade and is now completing a PhD with Goldsmiths and Curious Minds on the impact of artists working with schools. Using psychological research methods, his studies examine how artistic engagement affects creativity, curiosity and critical thinking in students, as well as implications for teachers and artists. His work aims to build an empirical evidence base for the value of artists working in education.

Andy Ash

President, National Society for Education in Art & Design

Andy is an artist, researcher and educator whose sculptural practice spans installation, performance, film, sound and text. Based in Brighton, he works from Red Herring artist cooperative in Portslade and is an Associate Professor at UCL, teaching postgraduate students. He has exhibited internationally and taught across several Russell Group universities. From 2025 to 2027 he will serve as President of the National Society for Education in Art and Design.

Jennifer John

Vocal Composer and Creative Director

Jennifer is a Liverpool-based vocal composer and creative director whose work places voice at the centre of collective transformation. She leads projects including Sense of Sound, Enormous Vocal Ensemble and the community movement Love Sings. Her development programme Voice, Presence & Artistry supports singers to build confidence and artistic identity. Jennifer has collaborated widely and is a committed advocate for equity, artist agency and cultural representation within the creative industries. At the heart of Jennifer’s practice is a simple belief: when people use their voice, they discover their power — and when they use it together, they create harmonious, positive and peaceful social cohesion. 

Hafsah Naib

Filmmaker and Socially Engaged Artist

Hafsah works across film, installation, immersive media and socially engaged practice. An award-winning artist, she has more than twenty years’ experience in co-creation and digital innovation. She founded Working Class Film School and has delivered training and mentorship in the UK and internationally. Her current work includes an artist-film feature on cinema and mohabat (love) and immersive projects with organisations including DialledIN, No Ghost and Bradford 2025.

Derri Burdon

CEO, Curious Minds

Derri is Chief Executive of Curious Minds and a national advocate for creativity in education and careers. She Co-Chairs the Cultural Learning Alliance, Chairs Wigan’s Cultural Partnership Board and is a long-standing school governor. Trained as an English teacher, she has held senior roles in local authority education and led programmes such as Find Your Talent. Derri is passionate about improving outcomes for all children, especially the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. She is driven by the passionate belief that rather than attempting to ‘close the gap’, we should be filling it with enriching and inspirational cultural and collective learning experiences that the most fortunate families take for granted.  

Dr Darren Henley CBE

CEO, Arts Council England

Darren leads Arts Council England and brings a background spanning positive psychology, art history, politics and management. His doctorate examined how outsiders can drive cultural change. Previously managing director of Classic FM, he authored two independent government reviews into music education and cultural education in England.

Graham Helm

Community Sports Lead, GM VRU

Graham is National Partnerships Manager at StreetGames, a leading sports charity dedicated to transforming lives through community sport.

On a full-time secondment into the VRU from StreetGames, Graham leads a team that is responsible for all community sports activity for the VRU, including within community-led programmes where community sports and youth work are key priorities identified by young people and the community. Passionate about equity and inclusion, Graham champions initiatives that give young people in underserved communities access to safe, supportive environments. Graham's work harnesses the power of sport to create stronger, safer neighbourhoods across the UK. 

Kelly Allen

Deputy CEO, Curious Minds

Kelly is Deputy CEO at Curious Minds with 25 years in participatory arts and cultural education. Trained in Community Arts at LIPA, she has delivered and led programmes in local authorities, arts organisations and schools. Her work centres young people facing barriers to creative access, designing interventions aimed at sustained change. She is a committed advocate for stronger pathways and conditions for the practitioners delivering cultural opportunities.

Amina Atiq

Freelance Creative and Teaching Artist

Amina is a poet, performance artist and community activist working across culture and education. A BBC Words First finalist and Steve Biko Young Achievers Award recipient, she has held fellowships with DadaFest, Jerwood and Humboldt. Her practice spans anti-racism, social action, young people’s voice and public-poetry commissions. Her recent work includes collaborations with 20 Stories High and international cultural exchange projects in Egypt and Yemen.

Ashleigh Nugent

Co-founder and CEO, RiseUp

Ashleigh Nugent is a celebrated artist, writer and founder of RiseUp, a charity that uses creative arts to work with people in prisons and communities. His work has been published within poetry anthologies, academic journals and magazines, and his debut novel LOCKS was published in 2021 and is now being developed into a television series.

Sarah Shorten

Artistic Director, Stacked Wonky

Sarah is a site-specific dance maker based in rural West Somerset. Over twenty years she has developed a practice that positions children and young people as creators and performers in their own right, prompting a rethink of movement-based training. She works from a village high-street shop unit, sharing practice with partners such as National Youth Dance Company and GDIF. She is One Dance UK’s Young People’s Dance Champion.

Jamie-Lee Wainman

Interdisciplinary Practitioner and Educator

Jamie-Lee is an interdisciplinary practitioner whose work combines digital technology, 3D printing and playful learning. Jamie is neurodivergent and aims to use her unique perspective to facilitate learning experiences for different minds – utilising play and creativity as a tool, in addition to producing an outcome. With her collection of 3D Printers, Jamie continues to explore how she can use bioplastics to create sustainable work while also teaching CAD/CAM skills via workshops.

Tom Stocks

Poet, The Chubby Northerner

Tom is a spoken word artist known as The Chubby Northerner. His poem “The Final Step” opened the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final and was broadcast again in 2023. A regular on BBC Radio Manchester, he has won poetry slams including SAY OWT (2025) and performed for audiences from local theatres to Royal galas. His collection Lovely Chubbly is featured in Waterstones and he continues to perform nationally.