- Room 214 - 3D Design, Roland Levinsky Building, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA
- +44 1752 585171
- P.L.Macpherson@plymouth.ac.uk
Profiles
Ms Polly Macpherson
Associate Head of School - Enterprise
School of Art, Design and Architecture (Faculty of Arts & Humanities)
Role
Associate Head of School - Enterprise
Associate Professor of Design
Award Leader BA(Hons) Designer Maker
Polly is Associate Head of School for Enterprise within the School of Art, Design & Architecture and is leading development in following three areas: Academic Excellence, Sustainable Growth and Reputation Building.
As Associate Professor of Design & Award Leader for BA(Hons) Designer Maker Polly leads a group of internationally acclaimed practitioners who teach the thinking, inventing, designing, creating, manufacturing, constructing, building, producing and making of objects and artefacts.
www.linkedin.com/in/pollymacpherson
Qualifications
M.A. - University of Wales
B.A.(Hons) - University of Wolverhampton & California State University, Long Beach
Dynamics of Leadership Performance Coach - Cultural Leadership Prog. - Arts Council England, CCSkills & MLA funded.
Awards
Conference Prize, Drawing Research Network, University of Brighton 2010
Deans Honours List for Excellence - California State University, Long Beach
The Watt Memorial Trust Award for Travel & Academic studies
Professional membership
Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy
Fellow Royal Society of the Arts
Council of Higher Education in Art & Design
National Association of Ceramics in Higher Education
Roles on external bodies
Role Model
Aurora Advanced HE, development programme for all people who identify as a woman.
https://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/programmes-events/equality-and-diversity/aurora/index.cfm
EQ Arts Expert Reviewer - Enhancing Quality in the Arts
Judge - BBC Woman's Hour, Crafts Council and V&A Craft Prize
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/58MxNsfh9jDghnB1G3x7SS/the- woman-s-hour-craft-prize-2017
Creative Cultivator Advisor
https://cultivatorcornwall.org.uk
Lead creative collaborations with Hole & Corner, Benchmark, Port Eliot Festival
https://vimeo.com/183234760
LINLEY Summer School
https://www.davidlinley.com/linley-summer-school/
London Craft Week collaboration with Hole & Corner, Steinway & co. – Barge house, Oxo Tower & The Chapel at House of St Barnabas, Soho, London.
Board of Trustees - The Devon Guild of Craftsmen.
https://www.crafts.org.uk
All Makers Now conference reviewer - Falmouth University.
Creative & Cultural Skills –Expert Advisor
http://ccskills.org.uk/careers/advice
Craft Council Hothouse 3, South West coordinator.
http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/hothouse/
‘Get Fresh’ Exhibition sector, Emerging Designer Devon Guild of Craftsmen & Arts Council.
‘Craft+ STEM in the 21st century’, Crafts Council, Associate Parliamentary Design & Innovation Group, House of Commons
Contributor to Design Commission, Restarting Britain, Design Ed.& Growth.
Judge & selector, Contemporary Craft Festival
http://craftsatboveytracey.co.uk
Consultant – Crafts Councils Higher Value: Redefining Best Practice in Crafts Graduate Support
Teaching interests
Polly is interested in how things are made, how things can be made ethically and sustainably, how this can be taught; and the nurturing individuals so to develop original creative voices.
Award Leader BA(Hons) Designer Maker
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-3d-design/designer-maker-2
Award Leader MA Contemporary Designer Maker
Academic lead authoring MA Contemporary Designer Maker into the development of the MA Design award
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma-design
The Designer Maker course has a reputation for producing graduates who are individual, informed and understand how to be successful in creativity and business. It offers the opportunity for individuals to be the authors of their own artefacts whether for the one-off or multiple batch production.
Graduating students have achieved a wide range of progression opportunities including exhibitions, awards and employment: RSA Ceramics Future Design, Best Young Designer – Wallpaper, Lighting Association Design Award and Independent's Top 10 Sustainable Seating.
Graduates of the course include...
James Otter - http://www.ottersurfboards.co.uk/
Yvette Cox - http://www.annekyyroquinn.com/
Laura Lane - http://www.lauralane.co.uk/
Barnaby Barford - http://www.barnabybarford.co.uk/
Steve Brown - http://www.steveroystonbrown.com/
James Tooze - https://www.rca.ac.uk/more/staff/james-tooze/
Nick Fraser - http://www.nickfraser.co.uk/
Oct.-Nov. 2018
Guest Professor in Industrial Design at Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
http://english.jiangnan.edu.cn
Jan.- March 2011
Guest Professor in the Industrial Design Dep., Faculty of Architecture at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
http://www.chula.ac.th/
Staff serving as external examiners
Cardiff Metropolitan University: BA (Hons) Artist Designer Maker
University of Ulster: MFA Multidisciplinary Design
Liverpool Hope University: Design BDes (Hons)
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts - Singapore: BA (Hons) Fine Art, Graphic Design and 3D Design New Practice
Loughborough University: BA (Hons)3D Design New Practice
External Expert/Assessor Quinquennial Review:
Hereford College of Art, University of Wales B.A.(Hons) Blacksmithing & BA(Hons)Contemporary Applied Arts
Research interests
As a strong supporter of collaboration and sharing of ideas and knowledge Polly’s research and teaching is closely connected.
Her interests align with research thinking about archaeology, materiality, place and space with additional categories of Mapping, Journey and Movement; exploring the different ways in which these themes can be presented, organised and structured.
As a visual cartographer and maker she is interested in materials, in the processes of making, objects and new outcomes and how artefacts could/can be made/used to enhance and or change perceptions in or of environments and situations.
There are a variety of different ways in which she has successfully executed these ideas through the mixing of materials (concrete, clay, wood, combustibles) sound investigation & film/stills to produce objects, drawings and images.
Other research
www.pollymacpherson.co.uk
Creative practice & artistic projects
- Co-coordinator ‘Journeys and Transmission’ Summer Symposium, Land/Water and the Visual Arts Research Group, Plymouth.
- Buckland Abbey,Yelverton ‘things-meaning’/Practice research project.
- 'Trajectories - Future Pathways in Design'. Exhibition Dutch Design Week, Netherlands.
- Can things be good tour guides2? Making Futures 4, PCA Academic paper.
- 'New Economies New Ecologies', Exhibition Salone Internazionale Del Mobile, Milan, Italy.
- Can things be good tour guides? IRFGT ESHTE Portugal, Academic paper.
- ‘Envelope’ Exhibition Peninsular Arts Gallery, Plymouth.
- Things-Meanings Castle Drogo – Research project with National Trust.
- ‘Cabinet: Connection and Collection’ Exhibition Peninsular Arts Gallery Plymouth.
- ‘Cupola’ Film Presentation, Pairing conference Manchester Met. Uni.
- Presenting 'THE BACKS', Exhibition at The Devon & Exeter Institution.
- Land/Water Exhibition, Northampton University.
- ‘Observation, Mapping, Dialogue’ Poster/Paper, Drawing Research Network Annual Conference University of Brighton.
- ‘Ambulation’ Art council Exhibition, Plymouth Arts Centre.
- ‘Renewal & Regeneration’ Exhibition, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton.
- ‘Mobile Machinoeki’ Commissioned Art works, Arts Council funded
- ‘A Light Walk’ Film, Sound and Film-Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival, Plymouth.
- Roots of Learning, Schumacher College.
- ‘A Light Walk’ Film Spacex Contemporary Art Gallery, Exeter.
Research groups
- Design Knowledge
Other academic activities
With an extensive career working in Higher Education Polly’s experience covers the delivery, development, validation and examination of courses and students at local, national and international level through to research activity and dissemination and creative industry lead projects.
As an active member of staff Polly’s current wider University responsibilities include ADA elected staff member of the Plymouth University’s Senate and member of Faculty of Arts & Humanities Advisory Board.
University Senate & Honorary Doctorate committee member, Chair of Peninsular Arts Galleries Programming Advisory Group, University of Plymouth Complaint & Appeals Board, Academic Lead for technical and making workshops, Plymouth Award Management Group, 3D Design Visiting Lecturer Programmer, UPC/University Link Academic Advisor Cornwall College, Petroc College & Truro College, Senior Management Team, Academic Promotions Board, Validations including MSc Paediatric Dietetics & MA CAP, TQA Faculty of Arts & Learning, Teaching & Research Forum
Additional information
http://www.pollymacpherson.co.uk
Links
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/pollymacpherson