Helen Pheby is Head of Curatorial Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Inspired by the sculptural heritage of her home city of Wakefield, Helen studied Art History at the University of Liverpool. Here she encountered the ideas of Yorkshire-born art historian, poet and anarchist Herbert Read and was inspired by his belief that everyone’s potential is realised through a creative approach to learning.
Helen’s PhD considered why all art isn’t public, and her practice of over two decades is committed to enabling access to creativity for as many people as possible. She has facilitated over 100 artist projects at YSP including ‘Art by Email’ (2017), which gave a platform for artists who couldn’t secure travel visas to the UK including those fighting on the frontline against Daesh. Helen’s offsite projects include co-curating the Kyiv Sculpture Project in 2012 and ‘A Place in Time’ at the NIROX Sculpture Foundation in the UNESCO Cradle of Humankind, South Africa in 2016. Helen was an advisor to the Arts Council Collection (2016-17) and Chair of UP Projects, London, (2019-22).
