Practices, Contexts and Futures

Owen Griffiths describes himself as “an artist, workshop leader and facilitator. Using participatory and collaborative processes, his socially engaged practice explores the possibilities of art to create new frameworks, resources and systems.” From 2017-2019 he acted as co-director of Gentle/Radical, a community arts and social justice project based in Cardiff. He also leads several long-term projects.

Lucy Elmes works as a Contemporary Art Curator and Producer based in Plymouth. She leads the Curatorial Programme at Take A Part, strengthening the socially engaged art sector by connecting communities with artists to co-create impactful projects.

Kim Wide MBE founded, and acts as CEO and Artistic Director of, Take A Part in 2008. Hailing from Canada, Kim started her work in museums and collections at the City of Toronto and Government of Ontario Art Collection before moving to the UK in 2003.

In this concluding episode of the Social Making special editions Owen, Lucy and Kim discuss with Sophie Hope and Hannah Kemp-Welch. They talk about the ways in which socially engaged art becomes part of larger social, politcal, educational and cultural streams, and how the role of the artist needs regular renegotiation. They look at their current practices, identify stress points and look forward to their possible futures.