Research Area: Visual Arts & Design

View Simon's Work

Simon Raines is a sculptor based in West Yorkshire, creating works that are Part Sculpture, Part Object, making forms that are well defined and enigmatic, driven by the joy of making and experimenting with materials. Working mainly in wood, although not exclusively. These simple graphic compositions, have elements of repetition, layering, asymmetry, and have a sense of craft and workmanship. Working in an additive process, that brings materials and processes together to create sculptures that ask questions about identity and the notion of inherited skill and the expectations of craft and making within the field of contemporary art.

I am selected Artist in the Yorkshire Sculpture International Network 2025, the network is a partnership between Henry Moore Institute, The Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, celebrating Yorkshire as a hub for sculptural excellence.

I was elected as a member of The Royal Society of Sculptors in 2023, an active member of the Yorkshire Sculptors Group and the PSSA, Public Sculpture and Statues Association.

My work is held in private collections, and has been exhibited across the UK, including the Royal Academy, London and the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.

@s.a.raines

View Dr Simon Woolham's Profile

Dr Simon Woolham is a Fine Art lecturer at University of Huddersfield, an artist, curator and writer based at ROGUE ARTISTS STUDIOS in Manchester.

His practice-led research often explores the interplay between tactile drawing processes, walking, performance and song-making, evolving layers of placemaking histories in physical, virtual, and psychological space, expanding on notions of an artists’ residency of the mind. 

He has exhibited widely, including residencies and exhibitions at The Lowry in Salford, Drawing Projects UK in Trowbridge, Chapter Gallery in Cardiff and Baltic - Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. 

He co set-up the artist-led gallery PAPER in Manchester which ran for twelve years and supported Simon's PhD research at MMU.  He was lead curator and organised exhibitions both in the gallery and internationally at art fairs including The Manchester Contemporary, Art on Paper at BOZAR, Brussels and various other international exhibitions including Berlin and Stockholm. 

He also performers and expands his practice through his alter-ego, The Frog and with his Indie Alt-Folk band L.A.S.H.

Image: With Love. From an Invader. Exhibition Installation at Jeddah Photo, 2022

View Dr Yan Wang Preston's Profile

Dr Yan Wang Preston is an award-winning visual artist and practice-based researcher interested in landscape representation, identity, migration, and the environment. With photography as her primary media, her solo, collaborative, and participatory projects employ still and moving image, sound, performance, installation, and the artist book to explore complex ideas from multiple angles. In recent years, her work has been increasingly aligned with decolonial issues and is often invested in retelling botanical stories. She exhibits worldwide and has published three books: Mother River (Berlin: Hatjz Cantz, 2018), Forest (Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2018), and With Love. From an Invader. – Rhododendrons, Empire, China and Me (Breda: The Eriskay Connection. Edinburgh: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 2025). She teaches and supervises on PhD, MA, MRes and BA levels.

Image: Forest Book

View Professor Rowan Bailey's Profile

Professor Rowan Bailey is a leading figure in place-based cultural development whose work spans art, design, architecture and the humanities. As Director of the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture (CEADA) at the University of Huddersfield, she brings together scholars, artists, communities, and institutions to explore how culture can be co-created, exchanged and sustained in particular places.

A Professor in Culture, People and Place in the School of Arts and Humanities, Rowan is deeply committed to partnership working. She holds several senior roles: Strategic Lead for Research in Arts and Humanities, Art & Design Lead for REF UoA 32 (Art and Design), and Director of the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture, where she cultivates research that foregrounds mixed ecologies, co-creation and cultural imaginaries embedded in place.

One of Rowan’s signature contributions is as Principal Investigator of the Creative Health Hub, a pioneering research and co-production initiative rooted in West Yorkshire. Here, she works with local government, the NHS, third sector organisations, creative industries and communities to explore how creative health practices, from arts to gardening, can address health inequalities, foster wellbeing, and build capabilities. The Hub, co-run by Bailey alongside other academics, is the first of its kind in the region and places co-creation, capacity building and community voice at its heart.

In addition, Rowan is a Principal Investigator on the Post Office Cultures project under the AHRC’s UK/India scheme. This research looks at post office cultures in both the UK and India, using place-based creative scanning methods to document, analyse, and imagine futures for local heritage and community infrastructure.

Her work in place-based cultural development is especially visible in Kirklees, where she has driven a decade-long collaboration with Kirklees Council and creative communities. Collaboration and co-creation are central to Rowan’s philosophy. Her place-based work is not about “culture done to” a community, but culture grown with communities, across sectors. By working with local residents, cultural organisations, and policy makers, she helps co-develop systems that sustain creativity, build cultural infrastructure and invest in local capabilities. She is Curator of Cultures of _ and Project Lead of the University Research Funded Project Place-Based Cultural Development in Kirklees.

Beyond the University, Rowan contributes to national leadership in the sector. Rowan is a member of the Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD) and sits on the RIKE Alliance, supporting the advancement of Research, Innovation, Knowledge Exchange and Education across UK art and design institutions. These roles reflect Rowan’s longstanding commitment to championing the arts and humanities as collaborative, socially engaged and future-oriented fields.

Rowan is an active writer, editor and research facilitator. She regularly mentors academics to shape and post-produce research. She supervises PhD students across the arts and humanities. Rowan is especially interested in doctoral applicants working in creative health, embedded collaborative research, and community-engaged practice. At the heart of all Rowan’s work is a belief in the power of partnership, creativity and co-creation to transform places, strengthen communities and expand collective capabilities.