Curriculum Vitae
Joanna McCormick
Email : joanna.mccormick@googlemail.com
Please click on the green links in the text below to view images
An award winning self employed artist based in South East London. A BA in Fine Art and experience of working with art groups such as Chutney Preserves, Kindle and Surgery Projects, and with public bodies such as The Fashion & Textile Museum, The Royal Academy of Arts and The Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. An interdisciplinary artist, working across different mediums, from reminiscence to taxidermy, sculpture, photography, oil painting and performance. Selected from 200 applicants to undertake Westminster Arts' Resonate artists' training programme working with people with mental health problems including dementia. Joanna teaches courses for Adult Learning Lewisham, planning and delivering a variety of popular art classes on different subjects, including life drawing, still life and watercolour. She curates and collaborates with a variety of artists across art forms. Awarded funding from sources including Arts Council England and Awards For All.
Interpersonal Skills:
Skills of sensitivity and listening: Ran reminiscence and creative activity sessions once a week for three weeks with a group of four elderly people for Mole
Valley District Council. Created the art installation "Wildlife Document" from the memories and art work collected during these sessions, for Mole Valley's literature festival in 2002. Ran weekly art drop in sessions for
Union Chapel Church in Islington over the course of 5 years. Catered to large and small groups of adults of mixed abilities, including vulnerable adults. Worked with Wave Cafe N10 over the course of 3 years delivering creative activity
sessions to groups of up to 50 people with and without additional needs. Worked creatively to adapt these sessions to continue throughout the pandemic in 2020/21.
A keen awareness of equal opportunities: Worked with special needs groups of up to twenty children and young people with mixed additional needs and their carers for The Holly Lodge Centre in Richmond Park as part of a month long residency. Created works of art from the sessions for permanent display at the centre. Organised and delivered a series of creative activity sessions once a week over the course of two years with a group of up to ten carers for the charity Carers Lewisham. Catered to the different needs and abilities of individuals within the group, enabling all participants to be fully and equally integrated and engaged. Arranged for the work to be exhibited. Devised and delivered art workshop sessions for Wave Cafe - We Are All Valued Equally - catering to large groups of up to fifty adults and children of mixed abilities and additional needs and their carers. Exploring themes such as abstract art, watercolour, junk sculpture and egg marbling. Encouraging and enabling participants to work on individual projects and then working together in a large group to produce a work of art together as a team. Jo was diagnosed with adult ADHD in March 2023.
A good team player and people management: Regular collaborator with other artists, organising and delivering art workshops in South East London’s local community, eg to create props and costumes for Grove Park Carnival and Illuminate Rotherhithe. In spring 2023 founded Collaborative Arts CIC with Co Directors Sarah Sparkes and Frog Morris with the intention of producing creative activities and art events at local level as well as nationally and internationally. Worked with four artists from The Surgery group to organise and deliver the Nunhead Open exhibition, part of Nunhead Artsweek for six consecutive years. Responsible for creating an image for the publicity. Interacted and communicated effectively preparing the space, meeting and greeting artists and storing and cataloguing their work, curating and hanging the exhibition, invigilating and monitoring visitor numbers. Curated 20 artists to deliver the art exhibition “Textural Contexts” for Corner in 2023, delivering a popular and well attended exhibition on time: https://www.texturalcontexts.co.uk/
Currently working part time for Adult Learning Lewisham, liasing with colleagues and management to devise and deliver art courses for both a variety of adults and also parents and their children. Familiar with carrying out paperwork duties including risk assessments, Individual Learning Plans, Schemes of Work and Group Learning Plans, taking the register and delivering all paperwork in good order and on time in consultation with team leaders.
In 2019 worked as documentation artist for Meet Me At The Albany on the Meet Me At Lewisham Homes project. Sensitively and carefully engaging with participants of creative activities delivered by Meet Me At artists in independent living schemes throughout Lewisham Borough. Working in collaboration with other artists and the team at Meet Me At The Albany to deliver a series of documentation artworks for display at Meet Me on Tour exhibition at Deptford Lounge in April 2019. Attended meetings and met deadlines.
On the panel for interviewing candidates for the role of CEO at Creative Southwark in 2022. Regularly employs freelancer life models to deliver independent life drawing classes, for example Five Alive upstairs in the bar at Union Chapel delivering a series of unique and playful life drawing classes over the course of 6 months, with 5 models all posing together to themes, set to music.
Socially engaged practice: Sensitively and creatively carried out four one to one reminiscence sessions for The National Trust, then carried out further research from the archives at The Natural History Museum. Used the information gathered to create artworks for the installation art exhibition "Fungos Mungos" that took place in the tea rooms at Polesden Lacey. Ran drop in art workshop sessions for children throughout the exhibition, exploring themes of drawing and painting wildlife with children of all ages and their parents. Secured funding from Arts Council England. Managed the budget and delivered the exhibition within budget and on time.
Live art interactions and performance: Commissioned by The Royal Academy of Arts to devise and deliver LoveHateRAte for The Summer Exhibition's Midsummer Fete, June 21st 2014. Discussed opinions about artworks with visitors, discovering their most and least favourite, taking notes on cardboard dayglo “lollipops” and gifting these to individuals as mementos. Commissioned by Camberwell Society and SE5 Forum in 2016, to devise and deliver The Camberwell Beauty live art interaction. Collecting memories of Camberwell from the public, dressed as The Camberwell Beauty Butterfly, at several events throughout the summer for publication in The Camberwell Quarterly. Worked with Union Chapel in 2018 and 2019 to deliver 5 Alive life drawing classes upstairs in the bar once a month for 6 months, employing 5 life models to pose to music, on a different theme each month. Delivered Drawing Dogs for Camberwell Arts Festival in 2023. Performed collaborative art piece "Sol LeWitt Hysteria" at The Royal Academy in front of an audience of two hundred people. Worked with KellyOReilly at Milton’s Cottage to deliver an art interactive workshop for a group of partially sighted and blind people in summer 2023.
Financial Management: Experience of managing budgets for personal projects and when delivering art and creative activities for organisations through self employed and employed roles. Delivers on time and to budget with a keen awareness for documentation with financial, impact and sustainability statements.
Health and Safety: Working with a keen awareness of health and safety across a myriad of artistic roles with experience of carrying out risk assessments and evaluations for delivering creative activities safely.
Selected Exhibions:
For more info on exhibitions and events please visit my website and click on “news and blog”
“The Gift” Cross Lane Projects Vestry Street Curated by Vanya Balogh May 2023
“Textural Contexts” Corner New Cross July 2023
“Three Bananas” Jeannie Avent Gallery Nov 2022
“Two Bananas” Jag Sports Club March 2022
“Nunhead Local One” Peckham Festival Sept 2021
“Hell or Highwater” LV21 Curated by Caroline Gregory Nov 2020
“The Ghost Tide” Thameside Studios Curated by Monika Bobinska and Sarah Sparkes
“Embracing The Underdog” Curated by Susan Haire of The London Group Soho 18th Feb 2018
“By The Sea” Gallery 64 Whitstable curated by Harry Pie Sept 2017
“Common and Garden” Cafe Gallery Projects Southwark Aug 2017
“Empire II, Age of Anxiety Venice Biennale May – Nov 2017
“Floral Anthology” Westminster Reference Library March 2017
“51% Remember Her” Tower Gallery East London March 2017
Chinese Open Year of the Rooster Q Park January 2017
“Neon P’ings” Cass Art Space Islington London February 2017
“Big Deal 7 Space 2016” Q Park London WC2 November 2016
Education
Ongoing professional development training eg: Hidden Disabilities, Data Protection, Fire Safety.
8 O'levels and 3 A' Levels
Foundation diploma in Fine Art from Wimbledon School of Art
BA Hons degree in Fine Art from De Montford University
Royal Horticultural Society General Certificate from Woolwich College
Trained in reminiscence at Age Exchange Theatre Trust in Blackheath and with Westminster Arts
Current UK passport and free to travel internationally.