Level Up: Insight for Mid-Career Artists...

Ceri Hand is a creative coach, mentor, host of the Extraordinary Creatives podcast, public speaker and the founder of www.cerihand.com, supporting thousands of creatives to make an impact with their work and earn more money doing what they love.

Prior to establishing Ceri Hand she was Director of Programmes for Somerset House, responsible for the exhibitions, live events, learning and skills programme across the whole historic site. She successfully helped to build its profile and brand, shaping its reputation as one of the UK’s top 10 most visited arts attractions (2.5million visitors annually).

Significant highlights include landmark exhibitions such as Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Funghi; Get Up, Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers; Good Grief, Charlie Brown! Celebrating Snoopy and the Enduring Power of Peanuts; Hassan Hajjaj: La Caravane, in partnership with 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair; commissioning filmmaker Bradford Young for the annual Film4 Summer Screen programme; Anna Meredith and GAIKA for the ice-rink and Kojey Radical and Little Simz for the outdoor concerts Summer Series.

During her time there, she also successfully commissioned artists based within Somerset House Studios including Hannah Perry, Larry Achiampong and GAIKA, as well as commissioning new work for 1:54 AFrican Art Fair, Photo London, British Council International Fashion Showcase, and the London Design Biennale.

Throughout her career she’s worked with and commissioned new work from thousands of artists including notably: Hans Peter Feldmann, Gary Simmons, Angela Bulloch, Vito Acconci, Pipilotti Rist, Bedwyr Williams, Toby Ziegler, Dexter Dalwood, Chen Chieh-jen, Walid Raad/The Atlas Group, Sophie Jung, Anthea Hamilton, John Akomfrah and Black Audio Film Collective, Christian Jankowski, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Sissel Tolaas, Shilpa Gupta, Salla Tykka, Candice Breitz, Yang Fudong, Jill Magid, Cory Arcangel, Jeremy Deller & Alan Kane, Naeem Mohaiemen, Ran Huang, Paulina Olowska, Claudio Parmiggiani, João Penalva, Mai-Thu Perret, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Josephine Pryde, Hugh Scott-Douglas, Jim Shaw, Clare Woods and Heimo Zobernig.

Ceri’s other previous roles include: Associate Director: Institutions and Public Relations, Simon Lee Gallery, London; Associate Consultant, Contemporary Art Society, London; Director, Ceri Hand Gallery, London/Liverpool; Director of Metal, Liverpool; Director of Exhibitions, FACT, Liverpool; Deputy Director of Grizedale Arts, Cumbria and Director of Make, London. Ceri is currently Chair of Castlefield Gallery, Manchester.