Kealy Whenray

I have 30 plus years experience developing, designing and making hands-on, interactive and educational exhibits for Museums and Science Centres. I now have my own business offering consultancy in the field and designing and producing exhibits. My experience includes, concept design, exhibit development and prototyping, evaluation and feasibility assessment, production and install. It is a wonderfully interesting and enjoyable mission. I have also developed an interactive donation box for museums and science centres that amuses and informs the visitors as they make their generous donations.  

I am a visual artist who works across a range of media, originally crochet and textile but more recently in sculpture, installation and performance. I have a sensory approach to connecting to materials, most of them domestic recycled waste. I am very interested in experimentation and cross collaborations with artists from other disciplines and also outside of the field of the arts. Across the years, my practice has delved into the visual and metaphorical links between neuroscience and crochet, the cracking and transformations of womanhood after the menopause and more recently the opening and reconnecting to nature.

I am a Wiltshire-based visual artist and consultant working with people and places through commissions, projects, residencies, walks and workshops. I work with media of relevance to each place, its ecology and heritage, from ‘natural’ and recycled materials, to photographs, text, sound and video. Previous Hampshire residencies have included working with Spud (New Forest), John Hansard Museum (Southampton) and Andover Museum. My consultancy work includes writing for publication, mentoring for emerging artists/creatives, and advisory work/professional development for the arts/heritage and environmental sectors. Access and inclusion is key to all my work, with a particular focus on the value of queer and neurodivergent voices/experiences.