Wind Whip, Charlie Franklin, 2021

About Us

Mark Devereux Projects (MDP) is an independent curatorial and artist development organisation. We specialise in supporting early to mid-career artists through creative collaboration and tailored mentoring.

MDP is a small but devoted team seeking to create safer, braver spaces for artists. Our meticulous approach is founded on listening, trust, honesty and caring. We build critical but nurturing relationships with artists across a variety of artforms.

We collaborate with artists across the UK to develop and curate ambitious creative projects, ranging from touring solo exhibitions to participatory workshops. This challenges artists through creative risk-taking while introducing their practice to new audiences. Our work creates new paid opportunities for artists that aren’t freely available.

Our professional development work focuses on the individual artist, offering a unique pathway outside of institutional programmes. Since 2013 we have provided hundreds of artists with invaluable advice, guidance and critique through one-to-one mentoring sessions, specialist workshops and national artist development programmes. We ensure that our professional development activities are affordable and seek to help artists when cost is a barrier.

MDP is committed to dismantling the barriers that often prevent artists from advancing their careers, such as a lack of formal artistic training, childcare responsibilities, or being Disabled or neurodiverse. We work towards our ambition that artists will be valued and paid for their work, able to forge sustainable careers on their own terms.

Team

Mark Devereux

  • Director

Mark has an unwavering passion and dedication towards helping artists realise their ambitions. He takes pride in seeing the impact successful projects and mentoring can have on an artist’s career. With a deep interest in all visual art processes, Mark thrives when collaborating with artists to make, curate and install exhibitions and creative projects.

Mark holds over 17-years’ experience within the art sector, specialising in artist professional development, curation, production and project management.

After practicing as an artist following his graduation from BA Photography and MA Fine Art at Staffordshire University, he found his passion and skills to be within facilitation and supporting artists. Between 2006 – 2012, Mark founded and directed Blank Media Collective and later BLANKSPACE Gallery in Manchester, swiftly establishing a reputation for unearthing exciting emerging talent.

Liz West

  • Director

Liz offers important grounding, advice and support to ensure our work is meaningful for artists. Drawing on her vast experience as a full-time artist, she actively shares her own personal experiences to ensure our information and advice is current.  

Liz West is a British artist renowned for her wide-ranging works, from the intimate to the monumental. Using a variety of materials and exploring the use of light, she blurs the boundaries between sculpture, architecture, design and painting to create works that are both playful and immersive.

Liz has been commissioned worldwide by institutions and organisations including Natural History Museum, London Design Festival, Paris Fashion Week, Milan Design Week, National Trust, National Science and Media Museum, Dubai Design Week, Natural England, Salford University, Fortnum & Mason and Bristol Biennial.

Her work has been included in exhibitions at St Albans Museum + Gallery, Chester Cathedral, Compton Verney, Musée Nissim de Camondo in Paris, Kraftwerk Berlin, Tripostal Lille and Bangalore International Centre.

www.liz-west.com

Jack Welsh

  • Director

Jack is deeply interested in visual art and working closely with artists. He shares MDP’s values in working with artists, and its specialisms in supporting emerging and mid-career artists. As a director Jack brings his expertise in arts producing, editing, writing and project management.

Jack Welsh is an arts producer and writer based in Liverpool. He possesses over 15-years’ experience of working across the arts, international festivals and academia.

Jack is currently Festival Programme Manager at Liverpool Arab Arts Festival. He collaborates with international artists and partners to programme the multi-disciplinary festival. He also curates the visual art programme which brings leading Arab artists to Liverpool alongside commissioning new work by emerging UK-based artists.

In addition to producing, Jack produces critical writing for a variety of websites, publications and artists, including Corridor8, thisistomorrow, The Double Negative and Artlyst.

www.jackwelsh.co.uk

Story

Mark Devereux Projects launched in 2013 with the group exhibition Means of Feedback in Manchester.

The origins of MDP can be traced back years earlier. After completing his training as an artist with his Fine Art MA at Staffordshire University in 2006, Mark found his true vocation was in the facilitation and support of artists. Over the next several years, Mark quickly established a reputation as a Manchester-based curator who unearthed and championed exciting new artistic talent.

In 2012 Mark collaborated with artist Liz West to plan, fundraise and curate her first solo exhibition Chroma in Manchester. Working together across an 18-month period, Chroma was an early milestone on Liz’s journey to becoming a successful artist. It was also a pivotal moment for Mark’s own curatorial practice, solidifying his desire to collaborate with artists to make, curate and install exhibitions and creative projects over a longer period.

After a period of research and consultation, Mark founded Mark Devereux Projects as a new independent model of working with artists outside of a commercial context. MDP provides artists with much-needed one-to-one guidance, curatorial expertise and new presentation opportunities that are responsive to the artist’s individual ambitions.

Since this time Mark’s insight, professionalism and meticulous commitment has helped many artists to achieve major milestones in their career. MDP has established a reputation for providing artists with supportive, knowledgeable and professional guidance and curatorial expertise. Recent artists that MDP has collaborated with include Nicola Ellis, David Ogle, David Bethell, Charlie Franklin, Pippa Eason, Tom Lambert, Kelly O’Brien & Lady Kitt.

MDP regularly works with organisations and artist-led across the UK and internationally, including Vane, Newcastle, UK; HOME, Manchester, UK; Standpoint Gallery, London, UK. You can see the full list here.

In 2021 MDP was awarded funding by Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants and Cheshire East Council’s Cultural Framework to undertake a period of organisational development ahead of our 10-year anniversary in 2023. This strategic work has included the launch of our new access manifesto, Safer, Braver Spaces, which has been developed in consultation with artist, researcher & drag king, Lady Kitt; and Freelance Creative Engagement Producer/Consultant, Bo Olawoye. Mark Devereux Projects is a Company Limited by Guarantee. We operate on grant income and income generated by our artistic activities.

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