Nicola Naismith
Lecturer, researcher and visual artist
Nicola Naismith is a lecturer, researcher and visual artist. Drawing upon social and historical material she has worked on self-initiated cross discipline collaborative projects within the fields of architecture, engineering and ergonomics. She has also been commissioned by cultural and academic institutions including The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Foundling Museum and Northumbria University. Her research work has been supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Arts Council England.
She was the Visual Artist Fellow on the Clore Leadership programme in 2017/18 and in 2024 she completed the Advance HE Aurora Women in Leadership programme. Nicola is currently a North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership AHRC funded PhD student at the University of Manchester exploring the unwitnessed labour of first-generation social art practitioners.
Nicola’s research explores the world of work, including most recently exploring the working conditions and support structures of creative practitioners working in arts, health and social practice contexts. She disseminates her research work through reports, talks and workshops. She also acts in an advisory and consultancy capacity within the participatory arts sector. Nicola leads the modules on Reflective, ethical and professional practice on the MA Art and Social Practice programme.