Dr Jade French

Profile

I am an artist-facilitator, practice-led action researcher, and specialist in inclusive arts practice – a global creative practice whereby learning disabled and/or neurodiverse artists create work with the support of, or in collaboration with, artist-facilitators. 

My arts practice grew out of my experience of working in social care. Before my career in both the arts and academia, I worked as a personal assistant in self-advocacy organisations supporting learning disabled people with their day-to-day care and life planning. This afforded me rich experience in disability access, facilitation, support and person-centred approaches which now actively inform both my research interests in disability studies and social care as well as my approaches to art, facilitation, and teaching.

I have since practiced as an artist-facilitator for over 15 years. I have collaborated with a range of learning disabled and/or neurodiverse artists, inclusive arts organisations, and supported studios to innovate inclusive practices in curating, exhibtions, commissioning, and artist development, including international collaborations across Ireland (International Curator Residency and British Council Axis Artist Exchange with KCAT and Pyramid), USA, Brazil (Sesc São Paulo Museum Accessibility Study and Research Group) and Japan (Tokyo 2020 Art Brut World Forum).

Alongside my interests in artist-facilitation, inclusive curating, and inclusive artist development, my current work explores how inclusive arts practice coupled with action research can generate epistemically just knowledge, particularily into social care practice. I am interested in how inclusive art can be a novel lens into disability rights and social care challenges as well as a method to generate creative and collaborative alternatives.

Research interests

In September 2024, I was awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship for the project Inclusive Art for Wicked Problems. Working in partnership with my longstanding collaborator, Leeds-based inclusive arts studio Pyramid, my fellowship will enable an innovative application of inclusive arts practice to systemic action research to mobilise the expertise and creativity of learning disabled people across the challenges of the social care system. During the fellowship I will collaborate with three additional UK-based inclusive arts organisations, as well with partners in Brazil – Dr Viviane Sarraf and the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art.

In addition, I am also Principal Investigator on Finding the Flex: A Flexible Studio Model For Learning Disabled Artists In Leeds (April 2024-25), funded by AHRC’s Follow on Funding for Impact & Engagement. In partnership Pyramid, this feasibility study will test an approach to providing a flexible, supported open arts studio space and support plans for learning disabled and/or neurodiverse artists, bringing a potential improvement in the way in which people are supported to access different activities and services in future.

Previously, between 2021-23 I was Principal Investigator on ‘Irregular’ Art Schools which aimed to innovate professional development opportunities for learning disabled artists through action research in collaboration with artists Ria, Liam, Victor and Alfie from supported studio Pyramid, artist-led space Assembly House, and the adult social care team at Leeds City Council. During this project we have been interested in what learning disabled people living in the Leeds City Region want and need to grow as professional artists and have thought about how to make studio settings, creative networking, social care and access to higher education more accessible along with disrupting normative ideas through this process. Please visit our project website to view our films and creative report.

In addition to my own projects, I have contributed to Dr Miro Griffiths’  Leverhulme Trust Fellowship Disability Activism in Europe: Young Disabled Activists Views and Experiences (2020–2023) where I developed a creative zine. I also acted as Co-Investigator on AHRC research project I’m Me: Identity, Representation and Voice (2023-25) led by Professor Matthew Reason and Mind the Gap theatre company which worked with learning disabled and autistic artists to explore questions of identity, representation and voice.

Within museums, galleries, and contemporary arts my research interests include:

• inclusive art, access and disability
• participatory and socially engaged practices
• ‘outsider’ art, art brut and self taught artists
• curatorial practice and theory
• artist-facilitation and artist-education
• action, participatory, co-produced and practice-led research methods

I am also interested in disability studies and learning disability adult social care including:

• learning disability and self-advocacy
• disability rights and disability politics
• personalisation, support and care work & commissioning

• 'Irregular' Art Schools: Methods for Supporting the Professional Development of Learning Disabled Artists
• Finding The Flex: Testing A Flexible Studio Model For Learning Disabled Artists In Leeds
• Inclusive Art for Wicked Problems: Innovating Creative Methods for Systems Change with Learning Disabled Artists and Their Facilitators

Qualifications

• PhD Inclusive Arts Practice, University of Leeds
• MA Inclusive Arts Practice, University of Brighton
• BA Photography, Nottingham Trent University

Student education

I am currently on research leave. However when teaching, I teach and supervise dissertations across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes relating to art, curating and museum studies including the MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies, MA Arts Management and Heritage Studies, BA History of Art, and BA Fine Art.

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage