For this week's Visiting Artist's Talk at the University of Leeds we welcome cultural producer and consultant Stephen Welsh to talk to us about how the value(s) of art, artists and arts institutions come to be framed and discussed.

Stephen Welsh is a freelance curator, consultant and cultural practitioner specialising in supporting museums and heritage organisations to embed co-creation, diversify decision-making and prioritise the needs of underserved communities.

He has worked with a variety of clients, including the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre, Historic Environment Scotland and National Museums Liverpool, and is currently a consultant for the Association of Independent Museums’ ‘Re:Collections’ programme, which promotes anti-racism, co-creation and decolonisation.

He is also collaborating with designers Mather & Co and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens to devise a co-creation strategy for their capital redevelopment project.

Since 2016, he has been a committee member for the National Lottery Heritage Fund North, and from 2021 to 2023 was a trustee for Homotopia, the UK's longest-running LGBTQIA+ arts festival. He also served as an advisory panel member for the Arts and Humanities Research Council project ‘Towards an Inclusive GLAM Hub’ from 2021 to 2022.

About the Visiting Artists’ Talks series

The Visiting Artist’s Talk (VAT) series hosts talks by an exciting range of arts practitioners from around the world every Monday afternoon 2–4pm during teaching weeks.

All of our talks are compulsory for our Fine Art students but are also open to anyone else who would like to join us.

Full details about this week's talk including venue information.