About us
Our mission is to champion creativity by providing the time, space and opportunities needed for creative and interdisciplinary collaborations to flourish. Whether you’re a student, staff member, researcher, lecturer, artist, work within a cultural organisation, or are just plain curious, discover more about how best we could support you.
Download our 2022-2027 strategy
Read our latest Creative Review
University of Exeter
exeter.ac.uk
What we do, why we do it, who we work with

We are fascinated by the creative process and better understanding how it works. We believe that a greater understanding of creativity will help people tap into their own creative potential and expand their sense of what is possible.

Our work spans the University’s four campuses and the surrounding communities in Devon and Cornwall. We work with the University’s community of staff and students, as well as creative practitioners, and South West cultural organisations to help strengthen creative networks, raise the profile of creativity at the University and foster interdisciplinary collaborations.

We do this in the following ways:

  • Lead creative projects with artists, staff, students and partners to create new artwork and share it with the public.
  • Bridge the university and cultural and creative communities. We do this by making introductions between staff and creative practitioners, participating in joint projects, and listening to/advocating for both.
  • Offer guidance around arts and culture, and signposting people to what or who they need.
  • Deliver workshops and training for students and staff on creativity and design processes.
  • Care for the Fine Art Collection, including online access, display on the campuses, and loans off-site.
How we can help you

Want to collaborate with us?

  • We run an annual programme of Creative Fellowships and an Arts Commission. These projects may be of interest to both creative practitioners and researchers/academics within the University. The callouts for both of these can vary annually so we advise joining our mailing list or following us on social media for the latest information.

  • We’ve also offered support to other projects, events and creative collaborations outside the University. We’ve previously partnered with cultural organisations such as the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery (Exeter), Thelma Hulbert Gallery (Honiton), Studio KIND (Braunton), CAST (Helston) as well as individual artists, writers, composers, poets, makers and choreographers.

Looking for a collaborator?

  • Bringing people together is what we do best. If you’re a researcher, academic or student looking to work with a creative practitioner, or an artist exploring a particular area and looking to take inspiration from the research happening at the University, then get in touch, we’re very good at making introductions.

  • Our resources section is also a great way to explore the different networks, research centres and creative and/or interdisciplinary projects already taking place at the University.

Want to promote your work?

  • If you’re a University of Exeter student, staff member, graduate, creative practitioner, cultural organisation or producer working in arts and culture in Devon and Cornwall and have an event or project that you’d like us to publicise we have a number of different ways we can help promote and champion your work within the University and to our external audiences.

If you'd like to talk to us about promoting your research collaboration or event please get in touch with our Communications and Engagement Lead, Anna Bunt to discuss how we can help you - a.j.bunt@exeter.ac.uk

  • We’re particularly interested in work that relates to the University of Exeter’s Strategy 2030 themes of climate and environment, health and well-being and social justice.

Need some advice?

  • If you’re working on a creative event on one of the University’s campuses and would like some advice around planning, budgeting, reaching your audiences, or to find out who you need to speak to in order to make it happen then get in touch. We can help point you in the right direction. Contact us on artsandculture@exeter.ac.uk

Looking for inspiration?

  • You can see our current, recurrent and past collaborations here.

  • We also take care of over 2,000 items which make up the University of Exeter’s Fine Art Collection. If you have a query about one of the sculptures or paintings in the collection or would like to find out more about the collection get in touch. We also write a monthly blog on these items which is well worth a read. You can view the full series here.

Want to know more about our previous collaborations?

  • Our annual reports are a great way to explore and discover all the things we work on within an academic year. You can read them here.
Sarah Campbell
Associate Director for Arts and Culture
01392 724772
S.E.Campbell2@exeter.ac.uk
I have a background in museum and gallery learning with a particular focus on creativity and the creative process. My role is to steer and guide the delivery of the Arts and Culture strategy. This involves lots of great conversations with fascinating people – both inside and outside the university – quite a bit of planning and writing, many meetings, and occasional workshop delivery. There is so much amazing creative activity happening here and I want to share it as far and wide as possible.
Naome Glanville
Arts and Culture Coordinator
01392 725879
N.R.Glanville@exeter.ac.uk
I am Arts and Culture Co-ordinator at the University. I look after the University’s fine art collection, organise art exhibitions, events and activities. I also liaise with artists, conservators and academics as well as other professional staff around the University to help achieve the objectives of the Arts and Culture Strategy. My working days are Monday-Thursday.
Anna Bunt
Communications and Engagement Lead
01392 727 656
A.J.Bunt@exeter.ac.uk
I get to share the brilliant mix of creative projects unfolding across our campuses, from festivals and events to artist commissions and fellowships. With a background in arts marketing, I love bringing stories to life with a playful, people-focused approach, helping to ensure our work is seen and celebrated across the University and throughout our wider community. My working days are Tuesday–Thursday.
Poppy Read
Social Media Assistant
P.Read@exeter.ac.uk
I’m now in my third year of English and Creative Writing so have had an exciting few years immersing myself in the literary world both analytically and creatively. I’ve developed an extracurricular portfolio in social media and website management whilst at Exeter and am really excited to mesh both of my passions together whilst I’m interning for the Arts and Culture Team. My working days are generally a Tuesday or Wednesday
Annie Sheen
Programme Manager, Cornwall
A.Sheen@exeter.ac.uk
I have a background in community and participatory art management. My aim is to support the staff and students here to think about how arts and culture can help them to both innovate and communicate their work. I am passionate about supporting the development of creative confidence, and I look after projects, events, and partnerships which raise the profile of creative activity across our two campus sites in Truro and Penryn. I also lead Kana Tremough! the Penryn campus staff singing group. My working days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Tilly Craig
Project Coordinator with Arts and Culture and the Centre for Rural Policy Research
T.Craig2@exeter.ac.uk
In my role as Project Coordinator with Arts and Culture and the Centre for Rural Policy Research, I help deliver a programme that supports wellbeing, connection and creative collaboration in rural contexts. I have a background in arts production and project coordination, working with socially engaged artists and creative organisations. Projects I’ve worked on have sat at the intersection of art, ecology and social research, and I am interested in communicating complex ideas in accessible, engaging ways.
Professor Kerry Chappell
Arts and Culture Academic Director (Devon)
K.A.Chappell@exeter.ac.uk
I am based at the School of Education at St Luke's Campus in Exeter. My research focuses on research focuses on creativity in education, specifically in the arts (dance) and transdisciplinary settings. I co-lead the Centre for Research in Transdisciplinary Education, the Creativity and Emergent Educational futures Network and the MA Creative Arts in Education Programme. Current research projects include Road STEAMER (EU-Horizon-funded), Transdisciplinary Pedagogy in HE (collaboration with University of Technology Sydney) and Penryn Creativity Collaboratives (Arts Council England funded). I am also a dance artist within Exeter-based Dance Lab Collective and an Adjunct Professor at the Centre of Creativities, Arts and Science in Education at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway where I contribute dance, transdisciplinarity and creativity in education expertise.
Associate Professor Katharine Earnshaw
Arts and Culture Academic Director (Devon)
K.M.Earnshaw@exeter.ac.uk
I am based at the Department of Classics, Ancient History, Religion, and Theology, at the Streatham campus. My research centres around ancient poetry (in particular the authors Virgil, Lucan, Lucretius and Ausonius), environmental ethics and humanities, creative methodologies, history of thought, cognitive humanities, and how we learn about the world with and through texts. I am currently Co-Investigator (Co-I) in the new UKRI Centre for Net Positive Health and Climate Solutions, which is partnered with the UK Health Security Agency, Forest Research, the National Trust. I am also Co-I and Arts & Humanities lead on a large NERC grant looking at memory in trees and climate change within the Future of UK Treescapes programme, and a Co-I within the Land Use for Net Zero (LUNZ) Hub, which is co-funded by UKRI, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (on behalf of England and Wales), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Scottish Government.
Dr Rob Magnuson Smith
Arts and Culture Academic Director (Cornwall)
R.Magunson.Smith@exeter.ac.uk
A novelist and short story writer, I teach creative writing together with topics in Environmental Humanities at the Cornwall campus. My own recent work features specimens in museums, malignant algae and shipwrecks. I’ve been awarded an Arctic Circle Arts/Science Fellowship, as well as writing residencies at The Eden Project and The Museum of Life Sciences. I joined the Arts and Culture team in October 2025 and hope to develop creative collaborations across disciplines. My novels include The Gravedigger, Scorper and Seaweed Rising. You can find out more here: www.robmagnusonsmith.com
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