CVAN East Midlands Director: Colette Griffin
Colette Griffin (she/her) is a curator, artist developer, artist mentor, arts writer and artist based in Nottingham and working across the Midlands.
Colette is the newly appointed Director of New Art West Midlands (NAWM), championing and celebrating regional arts practice, and providing sector support. NAWM is hosted by DASH and part of a vibrant, national network (CVAN) leading a collective agenda for policy change across the visual arts.
Colette has three years’ experience working with CVAN as Director of Contemporary Visual Arts Network East Midlands (CVAN EM), hosted by New Art Exchange, a role she now carries out alongside her work with NAWM. In these roles Colette nurtures regional and cross-regional connectivity and engagement through participation, working in partnership with organisations and creatives across the East and West Midlands to build sustainable infrastructures, present opportunities and deliver artist development activity.
Colette was Artist Development Curator at Primary (2020-2024), an artist-led contemporary visual arts organisation in Nottingham and a director of New Midland Group, delivering the NMG Development Programme (2020-22), an 18-month Arts Council England funded project looking to provide routes into contemporary art.
Previously, Colette was Curator at Mansions of the Future (2018-2020), an arts and cultural hub in Lincoln adopting an approach which privileged social, site-specific, and collaborative ways of working. Other experience includes working with Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.
In 2019 Colette was selected for CAMPUS, a year-long independent study programme in curatorial, visual and cultural studies, delivered by Nottingham Contemporary. She studied Fine Art (BA) at Loughborough University School of the Arts (2009-2012).
In 2024 Colette became a Trustee of NN Contemporary Art.