Knowledge Transfer Partnership: Models of Validation

2017–2020 Axis in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, Funded by Innovate UK (AHRC/ESRC/) and Axis

Between 2017 and 2020 Axis partnered with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) titled Models of Validation. It was one of the first KTPs ever awarded to an arts charity by Innovate UK, a scheme traditionally associated with science, technology and industry. The partnership built on Axis’ earlier research Validation Beyond the Gallery (2015), which had revealed the need for new systems of recognition for artists whose practice takes place in social and collaborative contexts.

Background

The project was jointly created and led by Mark Smith, Executive Director of Axis, and Professor Amanda Ravetz at Manchester School of Art. Together they steered the partnership as a shared transformation: embedding research and critical reflection within Axis, while connecting MMU’s academic work directly to artists and communities. Delivery was supported by Dr Rebecca Senior and later Dr Lucy Wright, who went on to become Axis’ Social Producer.

The Local Management Committee included Rupert Wilcox-Baker (Axis Trustee), Trevor Gregory (KTP Adviser and Innovate UK), Professor Amanda Ravetz (Academic Supervisor), Mark Smith (Company Lead) and Dr David Woollard (Academic Adviser).

The Programme

Models of Validation asked how artists gain validation beyond the gallery system, and how organisations can recognise, support and sustain that work. The partnership combined research, consultation, organisational development and artist-led activity, creating a framework that tested how academic and practice-based knowledge could inform each other.

An Advisory Group of leading thinkers and practitioners shaped the work, including Patrick Fox (Heart of Glass), Diane Hebb (Arts Council Wales), Jo Verrent (Unlimited), Ailbhe Murphy (Create Ireland), Esme Ward (The Whitworth), Deirdre Figueiredo (Craftspace), Alison Clark (Arts Council England), Tim Joss (Aesop / Arts Impact Fund), Anthony Schrag, Rachel Anderson, Phil Cave (Arts Council England), Emily Druiff (Peckham Platform), Laura Sillars (Site Gallery), Andrew Nicholas, Alistair Hudson (MIMA) and Rachel Gadsden.

At one meeting the group identified the opportunity to “create something new by artists, for artists” and to “disrupt closed narratives of validation”. They emphasised openness, shared risk and the importance of articulating the social value of artistic work. These ideas became guiding principles for the KTP and for Axis’ broader organisational ethos.

Research and Outputs

The KTP generated a significant body of work connecting research, practice and organisational change. Highlights included:

• Social Works? Open, the first UK journal dedicated to socially engaged art, co-edited by Amanda Ravetz and Lucy Wright.
   
• Social Works? Live, a national event in Manchester bringing artists, funders and commissioners together to debate social practice.
   
• The creation of the Social Art Library, an open digital archive designed to share and document social practice.
   
• The research report From Network to Meshwork, the first sustained public study into how social practice artists gain validation, critical support and opportunity.

The partnership also enabled a series of artist-led commissions that tested new models of collaboration and exchange, with contributions from Joshua Sofaer, Amahra Spence, Daniel Regan, Priya Mistry, Gina Mollett, Rebecca Beinart, Alex Wilde, Sally Lemsford and Megan Dunford.

Organisational Transformation

For Axis, the KTP was a turning point. It arrived at a time when the organisation was rethinking its future outside of public funding. The collaboration provided the structure and critical support to develop a new self-sustaining model based on evidence, reflection and artist leadership.

Under the leadership of Mark Smith and supported by the KTP, Axis redefined its working culture, embedding reflective research and peer learning into daily operations. It shifted from a subsidised charity to one driven by earned income, membership growth and co-produced programmes. These changes created a foundation for long-term resilience and helped make artist-centred collaboration the organisation’s defining characteristic.

For MMU, the partnership demonstrated how academic knowledge exchange could meaningfully influence organisational strategy in the arts. It deepened understanding of socially engaged practice, expanded research methodologies, and informed future models of partnership working between universities and the cultural sector.

Recognition

The collaborative work between Axis and MMU was shortlisted for Partnership of the Year at the national Knowledge Exchange Awards, organised by PraxisAuril, recognising excellence in innovation and impact. The nomination paid tribute to the contribution of Dr David Woollard, Academic Adviser to the project, who sadly passed away in 2019. His commitment to creative business development and his support for Axis’ transformation were central to the project’s success.

Legacy and Impact

The KTP’s impact was far-reaching. It:

• Embedded research, critique and reflection within Axis’ culture
   
• Strengthened our national reputation as a platform for socially engaged and artist-led practice
   
• Established peer support, mentoring and artist-centred evaluation as core organisational principles
   
• Enabled the creation of Social Works? Open, Social Works? Live, Social Art Library and From Network to Meshwork

The collaboration also demonstrated how research partnerships can empower small cultural organisations to innovate and grow sustainably. It validated that innovation in the arts is not only aesthetic or technological but social and organisational.

Models of Validation remains a landmark in Axis’ history. It marks the point where collaboration, research and artist leadership came together to redefine what Axis could be: a sustainable, artist-shaped platform that champions the social, ethical and creative value of art in all its forms.