Sophie Crocker Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Visual Artist, Facilitator and Creative Producer
I am an artist and creative producer with a background in visual arts, managing participatory arts projects, developing new programmes of work and building community relationships. My practice is driven by my interest in socially engaged working and investigating methods and experiences of co-creative processes and production. I enjoy working with a wide range of people, ranging from other professional artists through to school and community groups and work across age groups. Engaging with people is central to my work and I am passionate about the importance of creative and cultural access and opportunity.
I approach all co-creative projects with the same level of ambition as any independent projects and am interested in the politics of participatory practice within creative industries. I believe high quality work, meaningful engagement and active learning can come through participatory arts practice. I have a particular interest in the relationship between creative activity and wellbeing, and the role of process in learning. In my practice I work across film, performance, installation, ceramics, print and writing.
I have extensive experience working on a variety of participatory programmes across art forms in both school and community settings. I am producing a long-term arts project in the Newbiggin Hall area of Newcastle, responsible for all creative activity programming, developing community relationships and managing the project and budget. I am also currently working on behalf of Newcastle Cultural Educational Partnership to co-create sculptural work with Year 5 children at Cragside Primary School for the school’s new outdoor learning space.
From October 2019 to September 2021 I worked full time as a Programme Officer in the Young People and Participation team at New Writing North. During my time in this role I supported the development of numerous project outputs including animations, songs, zines, anthologies and live performances. Prior to that I have worked as an artist with learning disabled adults at Headway Arts in Blyth and at Barndale House School in Alnwick (a SEND school for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities). I have a degree in Fine Art from Northumbria University.
Artwork
Treasure Island, Stop Motion Animation, 2018
The Crabs, Stop Motion Animation, 2019
Schrödinger's Rat, wood, HD monitors, headphones, media players, emulsion, varnish, 2019
Welcome, HD monitors, HDMI splitter, media player, speaker, digital print, emulsion, 2019
Betty by Betty Presents, HD monitor, headphone amplifier, headphones, media player, sleeping bag, memory foam., 2019
Rubix, Performance, 2020
Projects and exhibitions
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Co-created performance with Bethan Williams15/08/2020 — 31/08/2020 Performance co-created with sculptor Bethan Williams in response to her commission Beatrix and Her Friends. Iterative performance, over three weekends exploring possibilities of audience engagement with Bethan's sculptures which were designed to be interacted with by the audience but couldn't be due to Covid-19 restrictions. |
Cheeseburn Sculpture Gardens, Northumberland | Details |
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Schrödinger's Rat @ Scramble14/03/2020 — 23/03/2020 Schrödinger's Rat at Scramble. Scramble was an exhibition interrupted by COVID 19. Group show from members of the Newbridge Collective Studio 2019-20. |
Pineapple Black, Middlesborough | Details |
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Schrödinger's Rat @ Art Houses17/08/2019 — 18/08/2019 Exhibition of Betty and The Rat sculpture Schrödinger's Rat at ARTHOUSES, Whitley Bay. ARTHOUSES is an artist led project. |
ARTHOUSES, Whitley Bay | Details |
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Community Arts Intern11/08/2019 — 23/08/2019 Devising and delivering eight-day programme of participatory arts workshops for learning disabled adults across art forms including print making, painting, sound recording, models and stop-motion animation. Stop-motion animation based on original fairytale The Crabs, created by The Stars group at Headway Arts working with artist Sophie Crocker. |
Headway Arts, Blyth | Details |
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Schrödinger's Rat @ Scaffold20/06/2019 — 07/07/2019 Exhibition of Betty and The Rat sculpture Schrödinger's Rat at Scaffold. Scaffold was the Northumbria University 2019 degree show. |
Gallery North, Newcastle upon Tyne | Details |
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Welcome @ Scaffold20/06/2019 — 07/07/2019 Betty Presents installation at Scaffold, Northumbria University's 2019 degree show, |
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne | Details |
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Head, Shoulders, Knees, And?20/03/2019 — 23/03/2019 Project managed and curated the student exhibition Head, Shoulders, Knees, And ? at Gallery North alongside Olivia Chakraborty and Katie-Ann Jackson. Head, Shoulders, Knees, And ? delved into ideas around the body. Informed by Queer and Feminist Theory, the work spanned sculpture, photography, video and installation. The exhibition formed... [Read more] |
Gallery North, Newcastle upon Tyne | Details |
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Artist in Residence series01/10/2018 — 31/03/2019 Hosting and curated a series of five exhibitions between October 2018 and March 2019, alongside Ria Martin and Bethan Williams. Featuring work by artists: Lucy Watkins, Irene Andreou, Michalakis Georgiou, Phoebe Gollan, Gabriella Fortini, Ashleigh Stores, Zoe Finney, Katie Bell, Olivia Chakraborty, Camille Nguty, Andreas Xenofontos, Evan... [Read more] |
Hotspur Street, Newcastle upon Tyne | Details |
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Artist Residency @ Barndale House School15/05/2018 — 26/07/2019 Artist residency alongside Katie Bell at Barndale House School, a SEND school for young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties. Planning and delivering workshops across art forms including stop-motion animation, photography, print making, painting and sound recording. Stop-motion animation won Northumberland Schools film... [Read more] |
Barndale House School & Praxis Gallery, Alnwick & Newcastle upon Tyne | Details |
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The Bunker17/01/2018 — 15/02/2018 The Bunker was a student collective with interests in friendship and the role of peer to peer learning. The Bunker broadcast eight times during the course of Gayle Meikle's A Seat At The Table exhibition January and February 2018, and featured special guests including Juliet Fleming, Georgia Bates, Tommy Keenan and more. Topics discussed over... [Read more] |
Newcastle upon Tyne | Details |
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Http://Red14/11/2017 Student exhibition. Betty and The Rat performance. |
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne | Details |