PhD Studentship - Cultural Geographies of Public Art: Creative Industries
and the 'Region'

School of Geography, Archaeology & Earth Resources, Department of Geography
Funded by AHRC

Supervisors: Dr David Harvey & Dr Nicola Thomas

Following the award of an AHRC-funded research project entitled
Negotiating the cultural politics and poetics of identity within the
creative industries of South West Britain, the University of Exeter is
seeking to appoint a suitably qualified applicant for a full-time doctoral
studentship for three years commencing on 1 October 2007.

During the last ten years, the creative industries have moved from the
fringe to the heart of the UK economy. In addition to this economic
importance, the link between the creative arts and the social health of
the nation has been championed. As a result, urban regeneration projects
have incorporated public art at a variety of scales from the flagship
'institutional' public art that is incorporated into large-scale urban
developments, to 'neighbourhood' pubic art regeneration projects that
articulate a community driven participatory approach (Hall, 1995, 1997;
Hall and Robertson, 2001; Matarasso,1997; Dwelly, 2001).

The South West has received significant 'institutional' and 'neighbourhood'
regional public arts funding in recent years (largely focused around
Bristol, and at other sites of urban regeneration). In addition, informal
acts of creative making have become 'public' in unexpected ways. Some of
these acts have included approaches linked to 'new genre' public art that
has developed from a critique of large-scale economic regeneration driven
projects (Deutsche, 1991, Lacy 1995, Wainwright, 1997). 'New genre' public
art addresses the promotion of social and ecological well being at a local
level, often articulating issues of uneven development and
marginalisation.

This project studentship will analyse the 'making of public art' in the
South West. It will develop the relational framework to firstly address
the act of making of those engaged in creating art that is destined for
publicly available display spaces (including an examination of
commissioning processes alongside the artistic production of the works
themselves). Secondly it will address the act of making meaning by members
of the public who engage with art in the spaces in which it is displayed.
It is anticipated that these publicly available display spaces will
include urban centres, but will also address the unexpected spaces of
display (the motorway, the rural lane, the beach).

This studentship is linked to an AHRC-funded Research Project entitled:

Negotiating the cultural politics and poetics of identity within the
creative industries of South West Britain. For more detailed information
about this project, see the PDF file at:

http://www.sogaer.ex.ac.uk/geography/pdf_files/AHRC%20Outline%20Proposal.pdf

Applicants should hold a 1st Class or Upper 2nd Class Honours degree in a
relevant discipline. A Master's degree, either held or in progress, in a
relevant area, would be an advantage. The successful applicant will
further benefit from working within a lively and expanding research
environment within the Department of Geography (see
http://www.sogaer.ex.ac.uk/geography/ for details of the department).

The award will cover University tuition fees and provide a maintenance
award of approximately £12,300 per year for three years. The terms and
conditions of the award will be those of the AHRC's postgraduate
studentships. Applicants must therefore have a relevant connection with
the United Kingdom, usually through residence.

Applicants should send a copy of their CV, with the names and addresses of
2 referees, plus a statement outlining their academic interests and their
reasons for wishing to undertake this research project to: Helen Pisarska
([log in to unmask]).

The deadline for applications is Thursday August 16th 2007. Interviews
will be held on Monday 3 September 2007.