Fellow's Profile
Rob Watt
Fellow's Profile
Rob Watt
Reclaiming Connection: How Public Art Can Rebuild Belonging in Rural Communities
Fellowship
- Themes
- Focus
-
Building civic belonging through immersive and participatory art in rural communities
- Countries
- Fellowship year
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2026
- Locality
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South East
Biography
I'm a creative director and theatre maker. I've spent 20 years creating experiences that invite people to participate; from community performances in village halls to large-scale immersive gameshows on cruise ships. I grew up in rural Shropshire, where culture was something you travelled for: a trip to the city, at a real cost, to something that happened elsewhere. That experience has never left me.
My Fellowship asks a simple question: can art help people feel they belong to the place where they live? I believe that participatory art, done well, can do exactly that - helping people feel they have a stake in their community and a voice in what it becomes.
I'm travelling to Denmark, Portugal, Argentina and Chile to learn from artists and communities who have spent decades answering that question, and whose work has become part of the fabric of where they live, not just a project that came and went. When I return, I want to put what I've learned into the hands of rural communities across the UK. Something practical. Something they can shape themselves. Art that starts a conversation rather than tries to deliver one.
Disclaimer
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
Disclaimer
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
