About Jo Wheeler

For the past 25 years I’ve been growing a practice as artist, producer, mentor, evaluator and photographer. My approach to social engagement focuses on working with people to investigate landscape, place and our relationship to it; exploring ideas of belonging and identity and asking – what do we inherit from the past, how can we intervene in the present and how do we shape the future?

I particularly enjoy working collaboratively / co-producing with young people. Starting points are usually photography driven but work has developed to also include textiles, processions, installation, sound pieces and more recently film.

In recent lens-based work I’ve been investigating ways to collaborate with different sites/ buildings in order to share their stories. These experiments have fed back into my social practice.

I have worked strategically with key national agencies in the sector including Arts Council England, The National Youth Agency, Arts Award, Artswork and produced and co-wrote Engage’s Envision – A Handbook : Supporting Young People’s Participation in Galleries and the Arts (2008). I was an Arts and Quality Assessor for participation for Arts Council England for 4 years and value my current role as a Creative Mentor supporting young people in care through TMC & Derbyshire’s Virtual School.