Janine Sykes

Janine Sykes is a curator and art educationalist. After studies (MA and MEd) in creative education, she undertook a PhD to formulate a new model of blended curation practice. Blended curation refers to on and offline learning (from education) entering curation, along with strategies from the fields of art and communications. Her projects could be described as messy rhizomatic assemblages, where publics drive meaning-making with artists. Blended projects offer publics alternative ways of engaging with performance, process-based, participatory, live and new media art.

Janine was awarded an AHRC bursary to develop the blended approach and worked collaboratively on projects with East Street Arts (UK) Leeds Asylum Seekers Network (UK) and Sisters Hope Academy (Denmark). Recent projects include Seeding Art Currency (2018) and HOME (2021). The publication Home Portrait was acquisitioned in the Sisters Hope Archive, Leeds Arts University library collections and the National Archives, St Vincent and the Grenadines. Her curatorial and educational investigations have been disseminated in papers to the global community – including USA, China, Italy as well the UK. Her thesis into the history of British art education is held at the National Art Education Archives (NAEA) and through a series of projects and publications, is a consistent thread throughout her research.

An early interest in how the creative curriculum could be enhanced by new media began with a JISC project with Wolverhampton University, which led to becoming Lead Researcher at Leeds Arts University for MoLeNET (2008) a national project, exploring the impact of mobile learning. In 2012 Janine published Locating the Value and Opportunities for Online Collaborative Creativity within Advertising for the Journal of Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education. Her interest in art education led to her contributing to a publication Design Pedagogy and Research (2007) and continued in curatorial work, Behind the Glass Mosaic 1913-2013 and The Continuing Process (2015). She then curated Outside Collett Dickenson Pearce (2015) the first Creative Advertising exhibition at the Leeds Arts University gallery. Reviews featured in the local, national press and circulation by the History of Advertising Trust (UK). Other curatorial activities include contributing to Treasures Revealed (2017) held at the (NAEA gallery) Yorkshire Sculpture Park and writing the chapter (pp. 164-171) ‘Quant and advertising: Collett Dickenson Pearce’ In: Mary Quant for the V&A.

Janine is a lecturer for Huddersfield’s Department of Art and Humanities. She has previously written new courses (MA in Curation Practices) and held Subject and Course Leadership positions for several PGT courses.