I'm t s Beall, a socially-engaged artist and researcher based in Dumfries and Glasgow, Scotland. Mostly my creative work involves working with communities in a specific locality to recover and 're-voice' or reinvigorate local histories in a way that is meaningful to them. This is often durational, and I've been working in Govan (a part of Glasgow) for almost a decade. One of those projects, Protests and Suffragettes, has also been hosting Wikipedia Workshops/Edit-A-thons for several years, in partnership with Wikimedia UK and Women's History Scotland.
I also occasionally do some consulting (mostly with third sector/charities) on participatory practices and heritage engagement, and I was recently Project Lead for the Dumfries Stonecarving Project, led by the Dumfries Historic Buildings Trust. We were super-chuffed to work with Wikimedia UK for that project (and we even won a wee award, which was lovely)!
I'm part of a network of folks who are looking to increase the information available on Wiki (and elsewhere) about women's histories, women's roles in specific protest movements in Glasgow, post-industrial and working-class histories, and the histories of Scottish Showpeople (also known as Occupational Travellers) and Scottish fairgrounds. In 2013, working collaboratively with a group of Travelling Showpeople, I founded a project called Fair Glasgow, which in 2021 is constituting as a national charity under a new name, Fair Scotland.
The Upper Clyde Shipbuilder's Work-In (women's roles within)
Women's activism in Scotland
History of Scottish Travelling Showpeople (also called Occupational Travellers) and European Fairgrounds
Another of these backgrounds, image taken during an 'artwalk' by Protests and Suffragettes in Govan, Glasgow in 2019. Riverside Museum visible top left.Intangible Cultural Heritage of Fairgrounds and Showpeople in Scotland and Europe
I have a practice-led PhD from University of Glasgow, Theatre Studies[2]; a Masters from The Glasgow School of Art; and an undergraduate degree in Photography from Pratt Institute in New York. I've studied contemporary visual art, photography, contemporary theatre, and museums.
