CV

Profile

Chrissie Tiller is a writer, consultant, advisor, teacher, evaluator, researcher and leading thinker in the field of collaborative and social arts practice in the UK, Europe and beyond.  Chrissie has a unique international profile having initiated and led major trans-national and UK programmes focused on the role of arts and culture in social contexts, raising and running budgets of up to £3.5 million.  She is a highly experienced and sought after facilitator, chair, keynote speaker, writer and advocate in this field, working across disciplines and cultural boundaries.  Following a Churchill Fellowship to explore the impact of the arts on economic, social and political change in Central and Eastern Europe in 1990, her work has focused on socially engaged arts practice, social justice and shifting power relations  This includes developing training programmes for artists and cultural workers in a wide range of contexts across Central, Southern & Eastern Europe (inc. Russia), the EU, inc. Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Greece, Portugal, Austria, Belgium and in Norway, Uganda, Palestine, Turkey and Japan.  For 12 years she was also the creator and then Director of the MA in Participatory Arts at Goldsmiths, London University. She has recently completed a PhD on Shaping Socially Engaged Art Practice and Pedagogy in the UK at TU Dublin. Her book ‘Power Up’ for Arts Council England is considered a seminal text in the field.

Consultancy and Practice includes:

  • Consultant/writer/researcher. Think pieces, books, provocations on social arts practice focusing on power, quality, evaluation, participation, participatory governance in arts and culture including Heart of Glass, Creative People and Places, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Arts Council England, the European Commission, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Creative Scotland, British Council, A New Direction, English PEN, Poetry Translation Centre,
  • External Chair Heart of Glass Creative People and Places programme, St. Helens and Knowsley
  • Critical Friend TekstLab, Norway
  • External expert British Council Resilient Cities Ramallah and Ramallah City Council, Palestine
  • External Advisor Tate Exchange socially engaged practice programme
  • External expert/critical friend Counterpoints Arts. Arts and Culture with refugees/asylum seekers,
  • Lead Expert. European Academy of Participation. EU professional development programme for artists working in participatory contexts – Goethe Institut & 8 partners across EU and Turkey.
  • Lead expert – Participatory Governance in Culture and Inter-cultural dialogue EU Voices of Culture programme. Lead partner Goethe Institut, Brussels. Including think pieces/research.
  • External Evaluator/Critical Friend – NXT Accelerator ELIA Artists as entrepreneurs/Cultural operators.
  • Head of Faculty – Northern Faculty of Social Arts Practice. Initiative focused on artists working in participatory/socially engaged contexts. In partnership 4 Creative People and Places in N England.
  • Visiting Artist – Na Podoli/Moving Theatre Kyiv Working with artists in socially engaged arts practice.
  • External Advisor – Sinopale Arts, Culture and the City.
  • Associate Editor Journal for Arts and Communities. Intellect.
  • Visiting Professor. Aoyama University, Tokyo University, Culture in International Dialogue.
  • Consultant/Evaluator. Oval House Cultural Learning Programme.
  • Consultant/Evaluator ‘Meet Me at the Albany’ Role of arts and culture in wellbeing with elders.
  • Consultant/Evaluator The Agency: Developing Young People as Social Entrepreneurs through arts and culture for Battersea Arts Centre, Contact Theatre Manchester.
  • Key expert/trainer Peer Coaching in Arts and Cultural participation. EU Timecase programme.
  • Key expert/trainer Taivex Independent international Cultural Operators Programme. EU Finland.
  • Artist in Residence Osaka ‘Outsider’ Festival Osaka University. November 2014.
  • Facilitator/Trainer Artists in Innovation in business contexts. Helsinki University of the Arts. 2014
  • Initiator and Creative Expert Generation – Women in Europe in Culture programme ECF 2013
  • Consultant/Facilitator Freeword literary and advocacy organisations training and research in dealing with censorship and freedom of expression in cultural contexts 2012/13
  • Facilitator/Trainer Finnish Arts and Cultural sector strategic change and Well-Being at Work Programme, Departments of Culture and Education and Employment. 2012-13
  • Facilitator/Trainer European Cultural Foundation Russia and former USSR Cultural Devpt programme.
  • Advisor/Facilitator Aalto Societal Innovation Camp, Helsinki, 2011-13
  • Writer/Researcher/Chair. International Participatory Practice. Paul Hamlyn 2012/13
  • Co-writer Guide/programme developer and Conference Chair. EU Artists in Creative Education programme.  2011
  • EU Working groups humarts, artesnet, interartes (ELIA) – arts in higher education trans-EU “tuning” group. Ways forward for training artists for employability in HE.
  • Lead Consultant/Creative Director British Council Creative Collaborations 2 yr funding and project development programme – South-East Europe
  • Arts and Cultural Policy Advisor, particularly in the context of arts and cultural participation and inter-cultural dialogue for clients including British Council, Gulbenkian Foundation, European Cultural Foundation, Culture Action Europe, ELIA, Setagaya Public Theatre, NESTA, Kunstenaars&Co, KulturKontakt, Austria, Theatre Institute, Helsinki, Ministry of Culture, Greece, Theatre Day Productions/PNA (Palestine), Council of Europe.

Strategic Arts and Cultural Programmes

In addition to consultancy for a wide range of UK and EU arts and cultural organisations, Chrissie has initiated and directed a number of strategic cultural programmes, particularly as Senior Associate for the National Theatre Education Department (1991-2010). These included:

  • Joint Creative Director Art of Regeneration 4 yr. National Theatre arts, education and culture led regeneration programme, based at Albany Arts Centre Deptford, focusing on partnership between a large cultural institution and its local community. Developing a venue, programming, strategy, policy and young people’s work alongside regenerating the space. Budget £3.5 million.
  • Founder and Director – Transmission – highly acclaimed 7 yr. trans-national programme developing creative training, mobility and employment opportunities for community, penal, and business sectors. Partners in 7 EU countries (including Kunstenaars&co and Kulturkontakt) and the leading EU cultural networks, IETM, ELIA, EunetART, Culture Action Europe.
  • Programme Director and Initiator – Seeding a Network. Training and development programme for change leaders in creative and cultural industries in Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova. Over €750,000 from PHARE, FCO, Council of Europe, Open Society Fund.
  • Programme Director and Initiator – Branching Out. Job-shadowing and training programme for teachers/artists working with young people in formal and informal education in C & E Europe. (Leading to Branching Out Japan and partnership trainings in Palestine. Over €750,000 budget.

CPD and training of trainers includes:

  • Training and CPD Creative Partnerships, Creative and Cultural Education, ACE Intercultural entrepreneurs, ASPIRE (non-formal creative learning organisations across EU), ADVANCE (creative entrepreneurship) NESTA Intercultural Leadership Fellows, A Visible Profession (cross-sectoral working in arts), LIFT, National Theatre, Creative Partnerships, Arts & Regeneration, East Midlands Arts, Artists Training, LEAP London, Animarts, London, Head Teacher’s Institute, DCMS, NW Arts, NESTA, ACE, CLP, CCS, SELLLN, LDA STEP non-formal learning programme.
  • Practice based workshops in arts and education/socially engaged practice – Japan, Palestine, Greece, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and 15 countries across C & E Europe: including developing accredited arts and creativity programme with partner ngos universities in Osaka, Japan.

Evaluation/mentoring includes:

  • Additional evaluations for People’s Palace Projects at Southbank and Horniman Museum, Cre8 East Africa training programme, Impact of Intercultural Dialogue in the EU Culture programme, Visiting Arts 12Mile trans-national arts and environment programme, NESTA Intercultural Leadership Programme, ECF Art for Social Change in Balkans and Baltics, EU Training of artists working within Third Sector programmes, Art for Social Change, ECF, numerous case studies and reports for European Cultural Foundation, Open Society Fund, Council of Europe on Arts, Culture and Social Engagement.

Other relevant knowledge and experience:

  • Theatre director/writer/producer in Theatre in Education: initiating and leading first integrated TIE company, including three award-winning theatre pieces and guidelines to practice.
  • Education and Training: BA Hons English, PGCE Drama and English, ACSD (MA) Central School of Speech and Drama, NLP Leadership, Association of Coaches, Conflict Management, Action Learning, FRSA
  • Chair/Board member Art of Regeneration, Jacksons Lane, Art Futures, Heart of Glass CPP Consortium, St Helens and Knowsley