About

Hi there! I’m Angelica Vanasse (she/her), a visual and participatory artist, art education specialist and cultural engagement consultant with roots in Northwest England and New England. I design and facilitate spaces for creativity and connection in communities with socially engaged approaches. With a background in art education and visual art I’ve also integrated forest school programme leadership and years of community engagement expertise into my creative practices. My professional journey has includes work in art galleries, museums, schools, community settings, outdoor spaces and creative places. I design and activate inspiring spaces for creativity & connection alongside researching and developing learning resources, shaping learning programmes and leading collaborative creative projects.

For over 25 years my practice has been rooted in creating space for myself and others to connect with creativity and placemaking. My artwork is built on a lifetime of exploration of nature and the boundaries and connections we create between ourselves and the living world. I am compelled to record physical and emotional journeys visually and through gathering the pieces encountered along the way to understand growth, change & processes as they unfold. I work to explore what regenerative practices and creativity can be and make possible in the world and in communities. As an artist, gardener, baker, maker and teacher I love to explore the connections we can create in reciprocity with people and place.

I am  committed to being open to learning and evolving as I create spaces for people to find connection, share their ideas and experiences, and find welcome. Responding to what is present and what enables curiosity through learner centered approaches has shaped by journey as an educator from the start. Weaving permaculture thinking and doing into my processes and practice is an ongoing exploration in what I do and keeps me rooted in regenerative practices. Developing approaches that consider what people care, earth care and future care can be and create underpins what I create through collaboration.

With a unique combination of skills that are rooted in hands-on creativity as well as strategic perspectives and cultural leadership, I work as an artist & creative leader in collaboration with people, place and organisations. The layers of my expertise support growth through connection, facilitation, creation and strategic thinking that considers the needs of all elements in the present and yet to come.

Present practice and work: 

Artist, creative engagement consultant, permaculture designer and creative practitioner exploringpeople-centered approaches rooted in site-specific creativity and regenerative practices, developed through over 25 years of collaboration with people, place and living things.

I bring possibility into tangible form through creative approaches. I have gathered expertise in cultivating connection through making, programme and audience development, co-enquiry/co-creation, community collaboration, interpretation, strategic planning, audience cultivation and consultation, evaluation & creative events.

• Freelance participatory artist, artist educator, educational researcher and evaluator working with community groups, educational organisations and cultural settings to explore, enhance and embed learning in a wide range of environments.
• Associate artist & creative producer – Squash Liverpool (2012 – present)
• Commissioned lead artist – Borough of Joy with Down to Earth (2025 – present)
• Forest Schools Programme Leader NOCN Level 3 qualification  & nature connectedness (2022 – present)
• Permaculture design (PDC 2024)  with Liz Postlethwaite and Permaculture Diploma Studies (2024 -ongoing)
• Cultural Emergence (CEED, ACE, PEACE 2024-2025) with Looby Macnamara

Past:

Developing Your Creative Practice (Arts Council England funded) research – Site- specific Creativity & developing regenerative practices as an artist (2024-25)

Learning Consultant, Sefton Park Palm House – research, design and cultivation of a new learning resource toolkit and engagement model inspired by 130 years of the Palm House’s history to creatively explore history, science and creative writing inspired by this unique place and all of the plants it contains. This yielded the Roots for Learning toolkit.

Head of Learning and Strategic Learning Consultant – Yorkshire Sculpture Park /  strategic development of the learning offer for formal, informal and community audiences, programme diversification, resource development, partnership development. Programme development and cultivation of values and approaches for exploring YSP’s unique setting through learning activities.

Strategic Lead, Young People, Adults & Communities, Learning & Participation – National Museums Liverpool /  strategic management of the learning and participation offer for adults, young people and elders. Includes skills & employability, events, lectures, workshops and resource development across 8 galleries & museums.

Community engagement consultant – Tate Liverpool 2023 & 2024

Artist in Residence – The People’s Pantry, LeftCoast, Blackpool (Nov 2023 – July 2025) exploring exchange, reciprocity and abundance in collaboration with place, plants and people.

Associate Creative Producer – Community Supper Clubs & Go See research programme with LeftCoast, Blackpool (June 2022 – July 2025)

Arts Engagement Lead – Fleetwood Heritage Action Zone Cultural Programme for community engagement, artistic commissions and creative programming, leading on strategy development, commission management and programme implementation and evaluation (2021-2023)

Creative Producer – developing and activating an engagement programme for children, families and schools inspired by contemporary art for the Chester Contemporary engagement programme, 2023.

Learning resource & engagement space consultant – Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City (Arts Council Collection touring exhibition), researching and designing engagement resources and spaces as part of a touring exhibition curated by artist Luibaina Himid for Arts Council Collection, 2021.

Slavery Remembrance Day Weekend 2020 – Event lead for National Museums Liverpool’s annual Slavery Remembrance Day event and development of our its first online programme (2015, 2016, 2020).

Engagement Manager – Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme at the Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool / using the Arts Council Collection as a catalyst to develop engagement programming that explores collections and collecting alongside modern and contemporary art.

Acting Senior Education Manager – Art Galleries, National Museums Liverpool & Education Manager for the the Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme at the Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool. Includes audience development and partnerships, programme development and delivery for schools/families/adults/communities, exhibition interpretation/resources and development of learning spaces.

Education:

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education & Fifth Year postgraduate studies in sculpture, School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston/Tufts University (licensed art educator, Pre K – 8)

Postgraduate studies in textile design, papermaking, sculpture and art theory, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Master of Research in Art & Design (hybrid spaces for arts engagement & creativity), Liverpool John Moores University

LinkedIn for all of the other professional highlights.