Cultivating spaces for extraordinary artists

Colette Griffin

Colette Griffin (she/her) is a curator, artist developer, artist mentor and arts writer based in Nottingham and working across the Midlands.

On joining DASH in 2024 Colette became Director of New Art West Midlands (NAWM), championing and celebrating regional arts practice, and providing sector support. NAWM is hosted by DASH and part of a vibrant, national network (CVAN) leading a collective agenda for policy change across the visual arts.

Colette has three years’ experience working with CVAN as Regional Director of Contemporary Visual Arts Network East Midlands (CVAN EM), a role she now carries out alongside her work with NAWM.

“I’m thrilled to be working with DASH to lead NAWM into an exciting new period guided by the region’s artists, arts workers and organisations! I’ve had the privilege of working as Regional Director of CVAN EM since 2021 and will call on experiences and learning from this role to help maintain and build sustainable infrastructures in the West Midlands.

Working across the East and West Midlands I can identity, support and create opportunities for vital cross-regional programming, connectivity and resource sharing, whilst ensuring both networks maintain their distinct identities, responding to the ambitions and challenges that are unique to each region.” ​​​​​​​

Colette was Artist Development Curator at Primary (2020-2024), an artist-led contemporary visual arts organisation in Nottingham and a director of New Midland Group, delivering the NMG Development Programme (2020-22), an 18-month Arts Council England funded project looking to provide routes into contemporary art.

Previously, Colette was Curator at Mansions of the Future (2018-2020), an arts and cultural hub in Lincoln adopting an approach which privileged social, site-specific, and collaborative ways of working. Other experience includes working with Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.

In 2019 Colette was selected for CAMPUS, a year-long independent study programme in curatorial, visual and cultural studies, delivered by Nottingham Contemporary. She studied Fine Art (BA) at Loughborough University School of the Arts (2009-2012).