Staff Profile
Background
I work as a Senior Research Associate in Fine Art/School of Arts & Cultures. My research and writing examines the intersection between museology, heritage and contemporary visual arts practice with a particular focus on commissioning and public art production.
Since 2011 I have collaborated with academics within the School of Arts and Cultures on a variety of AHRC-funded research projects, impact and engagement activities and am currently co-convenor (with Judith King) of the NICAP-supported interdisciplinary Art in Heritage Research Cluster.
Prior to joining Newcastle University, I worked as a public art curator and project manager with Grit & Pearl PLC and as a Commissions Officer with Commissions North at Art Council England North East (2003-2010). I have also worked as a freelance arts consultant, and as a professional development advisor and editor with AN The Artists Information Company (1997-2003).
In 2018 I completed an AHRC-funded PhD in Media, Culture, Heritage (MCH, Newcastle) looking at issues of public art collection, interpretation and audiencing in Newcastle-Gateshead.
Roles and responsibilities
Senior Research Associate – School of Arts and Cultures
Occasional Lecturer - Media, Culture, Heritage (MCH)
Qualifications
2018 PhD, MCH Newcastle University
1997 Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Management, Northumbria University
1991 MA Fine Art, Newcastle Polytechnic, MA Fine Art
1985 Postgraduate Diploma in Printmaking, Wimbledon School of Art
1982 BA Expressive Arts, Brighton Polytechnic
Current research projects
I am currently Principal Investigator on the AHRC-funded research project Networking international and transnational approaches to contemporary art in heritage (2023-25).
Previous research
In 2022 and from 2020-21 was a Co-Investigator on two AHRC funded Impact and Engagement projects, On-Site/Off-Site - Thomas Bewick and contemporary art at National Trust Cherryburn and Volunteer Voices. These were both Follow-On projects from the AHRC-funded research , Mapping Contemporary Art in the Heritage Experience (as Co-I, MCAHE, 2017-20), led by PI Professor Andrew Burton.
Collaboration
My research has been developed and delivered in collaboration with a wide range of organisations within the arts and heritage sector, in the UK and internationally. Collaborators and partners include Arts&Heritage, Artist's Studio Museum Network, English Heritage, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, and National Trust.
I am an occasional Lecturer in Media, Culture, Heritage (MCH). I have taught on the following modules:
- MPrac. Art Museum and Gallery/Heritage/Museum Practice 'Caring for Collections'
- MA Media and Public Relations 'Methodologies: Researching Media, Culture and Society'
- MA Art Museum and Gallery Studies 'Art Curatorship'
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Articles
- Farley R, Pollock VL, King J, Claxton K. Volunteer Voices: building volunteer agency in the field of contemporary art in heritage. Journal of Heritage Tourism 2025, 20(3), 348-363.
- Farley R. 'Welcome to the North': Public Art, Place-Marketing and the Northern Imaginary. Visual Culture in Britain 2022, epub ahead of print.
- Farley R, Pollock VL. Contemporary art in heritage practice: mapping its intentions, claims and complexities. Heritage & Society 2022, 15(3), 241-258.
- Farley R, Pollock VL. Size Isn't Everything: The Failure of BIG Public Art. Public Art Dialogue 2020, 10(2), 197-216.
- Farley R. 'Public art talk': audience-based meaning-making in the public art cityscape. Cultural Geographies 2020. Submitted.
- Galani A, Durant A, Chatting D, Farley R. Designing for intersubjectivity and dialogicality in museum interactive installations about migration. Digital Creativity 2020, 31(4), 302-319.
- Farley R. Strange alliance or a match that was meant to be? Interrelations between public art and the museum. Museum & Society 2019, 17(2), 263-266.
- Black N, Farley R, Pollock V, Cass N. Contemporary Art in the Heritage Experience: reviewing an emerging field. International Journal of Heritage Studies 2019. Submitted.
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Book Chapters
- Black N, Farley R. Mapping Contemporary Art in the Heritage Experience. In: Cass N; Powell A; Park G, ed. Contemporary Art in Heritage Spaces. London: Routledge, 2020, pp.15-31.
- Farley R, Weileder W. REcall Project: Reinterpreting and Representing ‘Difficult Heritage’: Interview with Wolfgang Weileder. In: Bassanelli, M., Gravano, V., Grechi, G., Postiglione, G, ed. Beyond Memorialisation: Design for Conflict Heritage. Milan: Politecnico de Milano, 2014, pp.57-63.
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Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
- Farley R, Pollock V. Gateshead Riverside Park: Public Art as Urban Heritage and Community Future. In: AMPS: Urban Futures – Cultural Pasts – Barcelona. 2025, Barcelona: AMPS.
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Reports
- Farley R, King J, Burton A, Claxton K. Volunteer Voices: Industry Stakeholders Report, April 2022. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University, 2022.
- Black N, Burton A, Cass N, Farley R, King J, Newman A, Pollock V. Mapping Contemporary Art in the Heritage Experience: Industry Stakeholders Report. Newcastle upon Tyne: Arts and Humanities Research Council, 2020.
- Brown J, Edy C, Pepperall A, Farley R. Angel of the North Significance Assessment. Newcastle: North of England Civic Trust, commissioned by Historic England & Gateshead Council, 2017.
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Research Dataset/Database