Katharine Wheeler

I am a socially-engaged artist, creative producer, speaker and workshop facilitator who's work is focused on Creative Placemaking - an approach to using creative action to catalyse community-led change and imagine new futures for the places we live. 

I work at regional, national and international levels to build collaborative working relationships and develop frameworks that support creative grassroots approaches to have long-term impact for communities.

I have been working as part of the core team at The Stove Network in Dumfries, southwest Scotland, since 2015 and am now Director of the What We Do Now creative placemaking network for Dumfries and Galloway. The Stove is an arts and community organisation. We are a successful social enterprise, the first artist-led development trust in the UK and SURF award winner for Creative Regeneration in 2016. We use arts practice to facilitate community-led development, projects and decision-making grown from a foundation in community engagement. 

Originally focused on High Street regeneration in Dumfries The Stove is now working regionally across places in Dumfries and Galloway through the What We Do Now creative placemaking network. What We Do Now supports the use of arts practice and creativity to instigate public action and grow community-led initiatives as a catalyst for development and influence local, regional and national policies.