If successful, I would use the £10,000 Dover Prize bursary to develop a new body of socially engaged work exploring neurodivergence, care, and systems of survival through creative practice. Drawing from lived experience as a queer, working-class, trauma-informed ADHD artist, I aim to collaborate with local communities in Darlington to create accessible, co-produced artworks and participatory events that examine lived realities at the margins of care and visibility.
The bursary would enable:
Research and development time to explore Darlington’s social history and the role of mutual aid, mental health, and community resistance in the area.
Workshops and residencies with local partners, youth groups, and disability arts networks to explore themes of care, resilience, and exclusion.
Artistic production of a new performance-installation or participatory public artwork rooted in the town’s lived realities.
Mentoring and reflection time to develop my practice further, alongside access costs to support my own neurodivergent access needs.
This award would represent a crucial next step in my career. I have a background in community organising, curation, and arts engagement, but limited time and financial capacity to fully focus on developing new, place-based creative work. I’m currently completing an MA in Youth and Community Engagement, and the Dover Prize would allow me to bridge my academic, creative and activist strands to generate work of real social relevance.
The process would be deeply collaborative — engaging Darlington residents not just as audiences, but as co-authors and co-designers in shaping the final outcomes. By investing in the embodied knowledge of people often left out of artistic narratives, I hope to create work that’s as emotionally resonant as it is politically relevant.
My work focuses on amplifying voices from marginalised communities — including neurodivergent, queer, and working-class people — through inclusive, participatory art. In Darlington, I would seek to build partnerships with local artists, young people, and grassroots networks to develop a project that centres lived experience and challenges who gets to be seen and heard in the cultural sphere.
By embedding myself within Darlington’s social and creative ecology, I aim to co-create work that reflects the complexity, creativity, and resilience of the town’s people — not just as subjects, but as collaborators. I believe art should not only reflect the world but help change it, and I would work to ensure the project leaves behind not only art but relationships, tools, and ideas that can continue to grow.
Through performance, installation, and storytelling, I want to spotlight Darlington as a place where progressive, care-centred, and socially relevant art is thriving. The Dover Prize would be a chance to invest in this vision — and in doing so, raise the profile of the town as a site for radical, inclusive, and community-led cultural practice.
My work focuses on amplifying voices from marginalised communities — including neurodivergent, queer, and working-class people — through inclusive, participatory art. In Darlington, I would seek to build partnerships with local artists, young people, and grassroots networks to develop a project that centres lived experience and challenges who gets to be seen and heard in the cultural sphere. By embedding myself within Darlington’s social and creative ecology, I aim to co-create work that reflects the complexity, creativity, and resilience of the town’s people — not just as subjects, but as collaborators. I believe art should not only reflect the world but help change it, and I would work to ensure the project leaves behind not only art but relationships, tools, and ideas that can continue to grow. Through performance, installation, and storytelling, I want to spotlight Darlington as a place where progressive, care-centred, and socially relevant art is thriving. The Dover Prize would be a chance to invest in this vision — and in doing so, raise the profile of the town as a site for radical, inclusive, and community-led cultural practice.
Yes. I hold a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Newcastle University, which I completed in 2013. My undergraduate studies provided me with a strong foundation in critical theory, interdisciplinary approaches, and experimental visual practice. The course allowed me to explore a wide range of mediums including performance, installation, and socially engaged art, and I was encouraged to develop a personal voice that challenged conventional artistic boundaries.
Currently, I am undertaking a Master’s degree in Youth and Community Engagement at Leeds Beckett University. While not a traditional visual arts postgraduate programme, this MA offers an important framework for my socially engaged practice. It provides me with deeper insight into systems of inequality, inclusive facilitation, trauma-informed methodologies, and sustainable community collaboration. This academic foundation directly informs my approach to art-making, especially when working in non-traditional spaces or with marginalised groups.
Together, these qualifications reflect a commitment to both artistic excellence and meaningful engagement. My academic journey has equipped me to merge creative experimentation with social impact, allowing me to operate across multiple contexts with integrity, depth, and purpose. I view both degrees as essential components of my development as a visual artist committed to community resilience and cultural transformation.
Yes. I have successfully applied for and managed over £100,000 worth of funding across various creative and community-led projects. In 2016, I received funding from Arts Council England to establish GROUND, an artist-led space in Hull focused on radical inclusion, social justice, and creativity from the margins. GROUND became a vital part of Hull’s cultural fabric, offering a platform for marginalised artists and young people during and beyond Hull’s UK City of Culture year in 2017.
Most recently, I was awarded £25,000 from the Riot Recovery Fund in Hull to lead on a significant creative engagement project working with young people affected by the Summer Riots of 2024. This ambitious commission will see me co-develop and deliver a participatory programme in partnership with Humber Street Gallery and other local stakeholders.
In addition, I have received funding and commissions from Absolutely Cultured, The Warren Youth Project, Hull City Council, and Goodwin Development Trust, enabling me to lead projects that bridge art, care, and community.
My experience managing funding has strengthened my ability to deliver socially relevant, accessible, and imaginative work that speaks directly to place, identity, and lived experience.
Yes. I have a strong track record of creating and leading my own professional opportunities, particularly in response to gaps in provision for working-class, neurodivergent, and queer artists like myself. In 2016, I co-founded GROUND, an artist-led project space in Hull, with funding from Arts Council England. GROUND became a hub for socially engaged practice, creative activism, and community-led cultural work. We hosted exhibitions, residencies, and workshops that centred lived experience and critical conversations, with a strong emphasis on inclusion and accessibility.
Following my departure from GROUND, I’ve continued to initiate independent projects such as Mad Pride Hull (2017), a mental health festival using public art to challenge stigma, and The Chaos Office (2020), a performance-based research series exploring neurodivergence, emotional regulation, and systemic failure.
In addition to my own projects, I currently support community engagement activity at Absolutely Cultured, Hull’s City of Culture legacy organisation. This includes working with young people, artists, and residents to co-create meaningful cultural work rooted in place and participation.
I view self-created opportunities as a way to both sustain my own practice and open doors for others, championing equity and care in all I do.
Yes. Over the past decade, I have been commissioned by a number of public institutions to deliver artist-led projects and socially engaged work that foregrounds lived experience, identity, and collective resilience.
In 2024, I was commissioned by Humber Street Gallery to develop and deliver a youth-focused engagement project responding to the aftermath of the 2024 summer riots in Hull. This project, supported by £25,000 from the Riot Recovery Fund, involved working closely with young people to co-create a programme of workshops, performances, and installations centred on voice, healing, and creative activism.
Other significant commissions include work with Wentworth Woodhouse and Art Works Sheffield, where I led inclusive workshops with artists with learning disabilities and autism; and with Goodwin Development Trust and Ferens Art Gallery, where I developed performances and public engagement activities as part of community exhibitions and health-focused initiatives.
Earlier in my career, I contributed to Hull’s UK City of Culture 2017 programme, including artist-led work exploring mental health through “Mad Pride Hull,” which used public space to challenge stigma and create visibility for underrepresented voices.
These commissions have allowed me to deepen my practice and create work that is meaningful, impactful, and rooted in place-based collaboration.
Yes. My work has received coverage across regional, national, and international platforms that celebrate inclusive, socially engaged practice.
During Hull’s year as UK City of Culture 2017, my contribution to grassroots and public-facing projects was profiled in the Yorkshire Post and highlighted by the British Council, who featured my work on their website as part of their international promotion of Hull’s creative legacy. This recognition helped frame my work within a wider context of socially impactful cultural practice.
I’ve also been featured in the Hull Daily Mail and on BBC Radio Humberside in relation to my work with Hull’s Mad Pride Festival, which challenged mental health stigma through public performance and community collaboration.
More recently, my practice has been showcased by Shape Arts and The Civic, Barnsley as part of the “Art Works Together” disability-led national exhibition. I was also featured in the “Let’s See You” campaign by Aire Place Studios, celebrating neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ voices in contemporary art.
These features not only bring visibility to my work but also reflect my commitment to elevating marginalised voices through inclusive and meaningful artistic engagement.
While I have not yet taken part in a formal artist residency or placement scheme in the UK, I undertook an academic placement at the Art Academy in Aarhus, Denmark, during my undergraduate Fine Art degree. This opportunity gave me first-hand experience of working within an international arts education context and greatly informed the development of my creative identity.
During my time at the Aarhus Academy, I immersed myself in a multidisciplinary environment that placed emphasis on experimentation, collaboration, and critical dialogue. This shaped my early interest in performance, installation, and socially engaged practice — elements that have remained central to my work since.
Although I have not followed a conventional residency pathway, I have consistently created self-directed opportunities to embed myself in communities, develop site-specific work, and form lasting partnerships. I am now actively seeking more structured residencies and placements to deepen my practice, expand my networks, and gain the focused time and resources needed to evolve my creative methodologies.
Email: williamvinegrad@hotmail.co.uk
Address: 113 De Grey Street, Hull, Kingston Upon Hull, Kingston Upon Hull, HU5 2RU, GB
Local Authority: East Riding of Yorkshire
