Maggie Rose

I am a freelance heritage professional, dedicated to supporting museums to connect with communities and tell stories that matter. I am experienced in (i) oral history interviewing and museum audio production (ii) interpretation and exhibition development, (iii) co-curation and co-production; (iv) project management; (v) training & facilitation (vi) securing grant funding; (vii) audience development; and (viii) charity sector leadership. I am based in Hampshire and work throughout the south of England and the Midlands. I am passionate about the power of museums to promote wellbeing and place-shaping. I have an affinity to the Solent region and especially enjoy helping a wide variety of people to flourish through community-led participation.

I am a professional visual artist and creative producer, celebrated for vibrant, layered explorations of colour. Guided by synaesthetic perception, my meticulously crafted abstract works transform sound and emotion into striking abstractions that captivate with both energy and depth. I collaborate with musicians and sound designers closely and have exhibited internationally, with work represented by Saatchi. I have over 20 years of working in the Rushmoor community as a creative producer, founded the music charity Forward 4 Wiz Trust in 2007 and currently work at Aldershot’s West End Centre as the Community Programmes Manager.

I am an artist living on the edge of The New Forest. I use folklore, folksong, old customs, games and rituals to explore contemporary issues particularly social and economic disparity. Country living can be a strange mix of bounty and hopelessness but when people have access to their own strong and sinuous roots, their own history and stories they have anchorage and hope. I seek the stories that connect us and as an artist I’m thinking of different ways of pinning them up on the metaphorical village hall notice board for all to see. Alongside my own practice I run drawing workshops as The Village Hall Draw and community workshops around the New Forest working with Culture in Common and Hampshire Cultural Heritage amongst others.