IVE adds Pippa Hale as Our Newest Trustee

IVE would like to welcome contemporary artist Pippa Hale as the newest member of our board of trustees.

Pippa brings to the IVE team not only years of experience as a successful artist in her own right, but extensive experience of developing the creative potential of others.

As an artist, Pippa focusses on social history, heritage and geography and she has produced a number of works in diverse media including large-scale installations in heritage venues film, sound, large constructions, neon and found or loaned objects. Pippa is probably best known though for her work developing the Leeds art scene, helping to establish the Northern Art Prize and Project Space Leeds (later known as The Tetley which Pippa was the Co-Founder and Development Director at until 2015). Both of these things were about nurturing native talent in Leeds and the wider North, born out of her own experiences of being an artist in the city.

Since 2015, Pippa has returned to her studio. Her work seeks to close the gap between past and present, drawing on history and interpreting it through the lens of contemporary art to connect with audiences in new and exciting ways. One example is the project Skip Play Repeat, which connects the history & heritage of the working class people of Preston with a digital future using, of all things, wooden toys. You can see a video explaining the project below.

Pippa’s drive for developing creative talent and her success in establishing new initiatives that help young artists turn their talent into a viable career are obvious strengths that will help us achieve our ambitions at IVE and we’re delighted that she’s bringing her passion, talent and expertise to our board. Her work with heritage and history also has strong links to our growing work with Ignite or Thomas Lister, creatively engaging with heritage spaces to ensure they remain viable, useful and active in the 21^st Century.

‘Skip Play Repeat’ a new commission for Mirador from Pippa Hale on Vimeo.

As for what drew her to IVE, it was initially about our commitment to creativity.

“As an artist, I am obviously passionate about creativity and the arts and have seen first hand how they can transform people’s lives – from children right up to older people. Often it’s about permission, confidence and just having a go. So many people I work with say ‘oh I can’t draw’ or ‘I can’t do art’ because they can’t draw a life-like image or were told they were rubbish at school. But that’s the great thing about art, about creativity: the importance of letting go and having a go, of failing, stuff not working out – it’s all part of the creative process, of working things through to get to a different place.

Creativity is an inherent human quality from which we’ve somehow become disconnected. We’ve divided things up into subjects, defined creativity as ‘the arts’ that are something to be enjoyed by the few and not the many. I believe we are all creative and that we need creativity, whether you’re a plumber or a surgeon, a lawyer or shop assistant. Indeed, I believe we are all inherently creative – it just needs unlocking. That’s why I’m excited by IVE and its work of unlocking creativity in the classroom and the workplace, about opening minds and finding new ways of learning and living.”

Pippa is also motivated by the current state of arts education in the UK.

“I have two children in primary school and am shocked at the way in which the arts are being systematically stripped out of the national curriculum. My son’s end of year report focussed on numeracy, literacy and science with the arts literally being last in line! This national agenda focussed on STEM subjects really isn’t helpful to the majority of children. I worry we’re churning out young people who simply know how to pass exams that ultimately aren’t making them fit for the workplace which is changing at a rapid pace.

In a recent report by the World Economic Forum, creativity has jumped from 10 to 3 in the top ten workplace skills for the future and emotional intelligence has debuted at 6. Through creativity, children learn to experiment, to fail, to think more broadly and to problem solve, to develop new skills and confidence, to adapt, to work together.

Today, knowledge is always at our fingertips – it’s what we do with it that knowledge that counts. As AI becomes ever more sophisticated, we as humans must ask ourselves what our future role is. What’s important to us? How will we shape our world? I believe creativity is a uniquely human quality and one we must harness if we are to survive and thrive.”

We’re hugely excited to add Pippa to the team and can’t wait to start championing the creative agenda with her, at all levels, from the classroom to the boardroom.