Alliance for Socially Engaged Art Fellowship awarded to Create’s Director

We are so pleased to announce that our Director, Damien McGlynn, has been chosen to take part in the Alliance for Socially Engaged Arts Fellowship, beginning in mid-June 2025 and running to November 2026.

The Alliance for Socially Engaged Arts Fellowship is a transformative programme designed to connect and support visionary leaders of arts organisations driven by community engagement and social change across Europe. The programme brings together 15 leaders working across diverse artistic disciplines and societal issues, who will work together to overcome challenges, share experiences and create innovative solutions that create greater impact within their local communities and the wider arts sector in Europe.

Across Europe, socially engaged arts organisations are tackling some of the most pressing societal issues—from inequality and migration to climate change. Socially engaged arts organisations, artists and cultural practitioners harness the power of arts to connect communities, spark dialogue and drive social change. Yet they remain undervalued, with insufficient representation in policy, funding, and public recognition.

This is a moment for socially engaged arts to take a more central role in cultural and social transformation, and the Fellowship seeks to champion that vision by helping leaders of socially engaged organisations to scale their impact, both individually and collectively. The Fellowship will support each Fellow to overcome a key challenge or explore a new opportunity within their organisation or community through the development of a ‘leading question’. It will take Fellows on an interconnected journey, to amplify the impact of socially engaged arts.

Damien says: “The power of collaborative socially engaged arts practice to bring people together, facilitate dialogue and instigate change is under-recognised. Create seeks to develop understanding of the impact of these initiatives and appreciation of the quality of the artists’ practice. Fundamentally, it’s about making meaning together at a time when people are increasingly isolated and our societies are increasingly fragmented.”

The fifteen Fellows were selected from a pool of 892 candidates, which speaks to the vitality of socially engaged arts today. Being part of this Fellowship among respected colleagues across Europe is an important recognition of the unique role played by Create as national development agency for collaborative arts. We look forward to benefitting from enriching conversation, collective troubleshooting, challenging provocations and immersive residentials as part of this Fellowship.

The Alliance for Socially Engaged Arts brings together leading European philanthropic foundations to champion the power of socially engaged arts in driving positive social change across Europe. By connecting and elevating organisations and practitioners, and providing them with essential skills and resources, the Alliance works towards a Europe where community engagement and creative collaboration sit at the heart of the arts sector, fostering social progress for all. The Alliance is hosted by the Network of European Foundations.