Becky Shaw

Becky Shaw is an artist, researcher and Professor in Fine Art Practice at Birmingham City University. She makes live, collaborative artworks that examine the tension between individuals, environment, tools and social structures, often in institutions of 'public good' including healthcare, education, utilities and work.

Following her creative practice PhD in 1998, which involved working with palliative care patients, Becky developed a series of collaborations in healthcare and, then, collaborations with practitioners including engineers, architects and social scientists.

Artworks have been commissioned by organisations including City of Calgary Water Services, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, Age Concern, Guys and St Thomas Hospital and with arts organisations including Hayward Gallery, Walsall Art Gallery, Sainsbury Centre, Amstelveen Art Incentive Prize and Ar/Ge Kunst Bolzano.

A series of interdisciplinary funded research projects involve making artworks and leading teams of other artists, generating fruitful methodological exploration and growing communities of interest and engagement.

Becky has a long interest in learning communities, inside and outside of Universities. This has included leading Sheffield Hallam University's art and design PhD programme (before moving to BCU in 2023), and co-leading art and architecture project Static, Liverpool, in the 2000s.