Participatory Art

Live participaroy experiences for events, and engagement activities.

Whether it's part of a conference, exhibition, festival, consultation or community event, every participatory artwork or experience is designed to transform people from audience members into active contributors, creating shared experiences and meaningful collective outcomes.

I offer a range of bespoke participatory art experiences, from large-scale collaborative artworks and interactive installations to creative engagement spaces that invite people to share ideas, stories and perspectives. Each piece is thoughtfully designed around your event, audience and objectives.

Whatever the format, every project is built around the same belief: creativity connects—helping people connect with each other, with place, with ideas and with something they have created together.

EXAMPLE PROJECT

Bringing Universal Design to Life

Munster Technological University (MTU)

I led the creative direction and facilitation of a participatory engagement experience for MTU's Universal Design Symposium, working with a multidisciplinary team of artists and facilitators to transform the conference into a collaborative, interactive experience. Through large-scale installations, live visual facilitation, portrait drawing and creative mapping, delegates became active contributors, collectively exploring the past, present and future of Universal Design.

By integrating creative facilitation and participatory art throughout the symposium, the project encouraged meaningful conversations, strengthened connections across disciplines and created a lasting visual legacy that captured not only the ideas shared, but the community that shaped them.

"They not only understood my vision—they expanded it and designed and delivered beyond my hopes… The portrait booths were a fabulous idea too, creating a warm, playful atmosphere that made attendees feel seen and part of a community."

Wall display with hand-drawn portraits of people, some in brown-bordered frames, connected by blue lines, surrounding a large blue section with labeled circles for Policy, Research, Environment, Teaching, and Student, filled with colorful sticky notes.

Learn more about this project

Designed around your people, place and purpose, I create bespoke participatory art experiences that invite people to contribute, connect and leave their mark. From conferences and exhibitions to community events and public engagement, each piece is designed to spark conversation, capture ideas and create a meaningful shared legacy.

Ideal for

Conferences & events
Public bodies
Universities & research
Community groups
Festivals & exhibitions

BOOK US FOR YOUR EVENT

A woman working on creating a large illustrated infographic about universal design at a public event. The infographic includes text and drawings related to involving students, research, best practices, and accessibility.

Our Creative Building Blocks

Collaborative Murals & Installations

Large-scale artworks that invite people to contribute their ideas, stories and creativity, resulting in a meaningful collective piece.

Interactive Art Experiences

Creative activities that encourage people to explore, reflect and participate through drawing, making, writing and play.

Creative Engagement Spaces

Thoughtfully designed environments that spark curiosity, conversation and meaningful participation throughout conferences, exhibitions and public events.

Story Collection & Community Voices

Creative ways of gathering experiences, hopes and perspectives, ensuring every contribution becomes part of the wider story.

Collective Visioning

Inviting groups to imagine possibilities together through collaborative art, mapping and visual thinking, creating a shared sense of direction and ownership.

Lasting Creative Legacy

Transforming participation into enduring artworks, installations and visual outcomes that continue to inspire long after the event has finished.

Bespoke participatory art experiences include:

Initial consultation to co-design the experience around your event, audience and objectives
A bespoke creative concept tailored to your theme, space and participants
Original artwork and interactive creative activities throughout
All creative materials, prompts and facilitation tools
Opportunities for people to contribute, collaborate and leave their mark
A lasting artwork, installation or visual legacy, with optional digital outputs and exhibition-ready files

Depending on the scale of your event, I can work independently or bring together a trusted team of artists, facilitators and creative practitioners to deliver larger installations and participatory experiences. The client is usually responsible for organising the venue and event logistics, but I'm always happy to advise on how the creative experience can be integrated into the wider programme.

A woman with glasses on her head and large earrings is drawing a map or diagram on a large sheet of paper attached to a wooden board, with words and lines. The sheet has handwritten text and colorful highlights.

A woman wearing a black uniform and black headscarf, smiling, holding a name tag with her name and drawing, standing in front of an educational display with sticky notes and posters inside a bright school or community center.

Shadow puppetry scene depicting two puppets resembling men in uniforms, holding each other, against a bright background with theater lighting and hands of the puppeteers visible.

A cluttered wooden table with papers, notebooks, a smartphone, a small cardboard box filled with dried grass, handmade crafts including yarn-wrapped animal and small woven pieces, a yellow notepad with handwritten notes, and some colorful ribbons. Part of a chair and a grey floor are visible in the background.

Illustration of two women sitting on a red blanket outdoors, with a third woman lying down, surrounded by flowers and butterflies. A large tree and a stylized digital portrait labeled 'Sense of History' are in the background.

Interior of a room with a large white banner on the wall that reads, "Our boats are open and we sail them for everyone". There is a small table with yarn and knitting supplies, a green armchair with a crocheted blanket, and a leopard print armchair. Four photographs are taped to the wall indicating various items or scenes.

A colorful infographic illustrating women's reproductive rights, autonomy, and gender equality, featuring text bubbles, graphs, and illustrations of women, with key points about gender norms, legal rights, and healthcare under COVID-19.

A promotional poster for an optical science event titled 'Light Laboratory Presents Optical Science' with a question 'How does the past shape today?' and an illustration of two women, one facing away and the other facing the viewer, against a background with clouds and a blue sky.

A person drawing botanical illustrations on paper with natural twig and moss elements, including twigs, leaves, moss, and dried plant specimens, arranged on the paper.

People gathered around a portrait booth at an indoor event, with a large ecosystem map and a sign that says 'Portrait Booth' on a cardboard stand.