Jill Randall

School of Arts and Media

Photo of Jill Randall

Contact Details

Allerton Studios Room G05

Please email for an appointment.

Current positions

Senior Lecturer

Biography

Jill Randall makes sculpture and installations, and has exhibited her work extensively in the UK and abroad. Much of the work is site-specific, and has included large-scale public art projects involving collaborations with architects and engineers, and Residencies in industry have increasingly become the starting-point and driver of the work. Group gallery exhibitions have included the Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, Cornerhouse, Manchester, Artists Space, New York, and “European Sculpture-Diversity and Difference in Practice”, Martini Arte Internazionale, Turin, Italy.Solo shows include ”Light Matter”, the Lowry, Salford. - a commission from the Lowry for new work produced from an Artist’s Residency at Magnesium Elektron, Salford, and “Secrets and Lives”, the Yard Gallery, Nottingham. Randall has been the recipient of many individual awards, including a Travel Scholarship to Barcelona from the McColl Arts Foundation, and a Royal Society of Arts “Art for Architecture” Award. She was Guest Artist-In-Residence at Claremont School of Art, Perth ,Western Australia in 1994, and major UK Residencies have included Grizedale Forest , Cumbria in 1999, and The Irwell Sculpture Trail in 2001. Randall has an important parallel practice working on major public art projects in collaboration with other professionals, 3 of which have won national awards. She is half of the “Dogs In Space” public art partnership with artist Alan Birch.Recent projects include” A13 Artescape” commission for Barking Town Centre, London, a Public Art Consultancy for Ordsall Hall, Salford ,“Valley of Stone “, Rossendale, Lancs, and a commission for “Hiddenplace”, Burnley.

Areas of research

Arts practice, Industry, World Heritage

Teaching

Jill Randall is currently Programme Leader for B.A. Visual Arts Course as well as a practising artist, and her teaching has always been characterised by the “real-world” professional experience of the artist . Jill Randall has held a permanent post since 1997, and has over 20 years teaching experience, being promoted to 0.6 Senior Lecturer in August 2011, in recognition of the quality and volume of her research activities and the contribution these have made to teaching. She has held the post of Programme Leader since Jan 2012. Jill Randall is especially interested in professional development such as 'Live' placements for students, European Study Trips and Erasmus exchanges.

She was Level 5 co-ordinator from 2002-10, teaches across all 3 levels and has been involved in remodelling Level 5 of the course and curriculum development.

Research Interests

Site-specific sculpture and public art projects, Artists Residencies in industry using context as the starting-point and driver of the work.

Leader, Contemporary Fine Art Research Group 2012

Head of the Research Centre for Contemporary Fine Art & Critical Theory in the School of Art & Design, 20010-12

Acting Associate Head (Research and Innovation) for the School of Art & Design for 1 Semester, 2011.

My research outputs are in the form of exhibitions, commissions, consultancies and publications, nationally and internationally. One of my current research projects is the subject of one of the School’s Impact Case Studies for the REF 2013, and its quality has been highly commended by the Pro VC for Research. I have won and realised many large scale public art commissions in the built environment collaborating with architects, landscape architects and engineers, 3 of which have won national awards, including an “Art for Architecture” Award from the Royal Society of Arts. Significant external funding and awards won in open competition include a Travel Scholarship from the McColl Arts Foundation, 4 Arts Council Awards, Artworks Wales Award, Foundation for Sport & The Arts and the National Lottery .

I have undertaken International residencies in Barcelona, and Perth ,Western Australia. Major commissions have included a Grizedale Forest Sculpture Residency, a commission for the Irwell Sculpture Trail, and the A13 Artescape Public Art Project in Barking, one of the largest public art projects in the world.

Qualifications and Memberships

Qualifications

  • M.A. Fine Art (Sculpture).Manchester Polytechnic, 1982.
  • B.A. Hons Fine Art (Sculpture). Falmouth School of Art. 1981. Art History Prize for Dissertation.

Memberships

  • Member, European Sculpture Network. 2005 -. Based Berlin, Germany.
  • Member, International Sculpture Centre. 1999- Based New Jersey, USA.
  • Member, IXIA, Public Art Forum. Based UK. 2002-
  • Visual Arts Representative, Rossendale Arts Alliance, Rossendale, Lancs. 2004-5.
  • Founder-member and Chair of SIGMA, Sculptors In Greater Manchester Association Studio Co-operative. 1983-2003.
  • Director, Mart Network Visual Arts Event, Manchester, 1997- 1999. Awarded Major Lottery funding (£100,000.)
  • Board of Trustees, A&E Artists In Education, Manchester. 2004-5.
  • Artists Space, New York, USA. 2002-.
  • 2005- Member of European Sculpture Network.
  • 2002- Member of Ixia - Public Art Forum.
  • 1999 Director of Mart Network, Major Lottery-funded visual arts event Manchester .
  • 1983-03 Founder-member and Chair of SIGMA -Sculptors in Greater Manchester