Artworks

FRANCES WILLIAMS

HEALTH & RESEARCH LEAD

SHE/HER

I bring a long commitment to LGBTQ+ cultures and politics, latterly working within informal learning contexts. I began my career, a rather long time ago now, as a journalist in the gay press, setting-up Diva magazine in 1994. For many years I was a regular contributor to Time Out’s Lesbian and Gay Section. I then retrained and spent over a decade in Gallery Education, working for a range of cultural Institutions both local and national (Whitechapel, Tate and South London Gallery).

I bring a particular interest in mental health. I was honoured to work with the inspirational figure of Sarah Wheeler, who ran the pioneering Dragon Café in Southwark. I developed a keen interest in Arts in Health through a 2011 project which enabled contemporary artists to work creatively with mothers experiencing depression and anxiety. I used this example to kickstart wider debate on how ‘creative collisions’ might usefully be fostered between the worlds of culture and health, across different disciplines and values.

I have since gone on to become an academic researcher and was awarded a PhD from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2019. I taught modules on a new MA dedicated to Arts in Health at Wrexham-Glyndwr University before returning to London this year where I am delighted to be joining Queercircle. I am truly proud to be working for a values-led arts organisation whose work sits at the ‘intersection between arts, culture and social action’. I look forward to learning more in this exciting context, one which draws on my various pasts, but promises so many new possibilities and approaches too.