Deirdre Figueiredo is the Director of Craftspace Touring, a
Midlands based agency working to develop and promote contemporary
crafts and design through nationally and internationally touring
exhibitions, life long learning projects, action research
partnerships and consultancy.
The organisation is committed to access, quality and
innovation.
She has worked in the fields of Visual Arts, Cultural Diversity and
Museums since 1981 beginning as a recipient of an Arts Council
Bursary/traineeship in Exhibitions Organising based at Cartwright
Hall Museum and Art Gallery. She then held the post of Exhibitions
Assistant at the Castle Museum Nottingham before moving in 1991 to
become Cultural Development Officer for Leicestershire Museums
Service and one of only three South Asian museum professionals in
the country.
In this post she curated the South Asian collections and developed
new outreach programmes, community projects and exhibitions to
promote diverse cultures.
She speaks at conferences and seminars in England and abroad on her
work in cultural diversity and audience development.
In a voluntary capacity she has been Chair of a voluntary arts
organisation in Leicester and has sat on various advisory panels
and committees including the Museums Association Equal
Opportunities panel, Crafts Advisor to West Midlands Arts, Board
Member of West Midlands Arts, West Midlands Arts Cultural Diversity
steering and advisory group and steering group member of Birmingham
City Council Visual Arts strategy development.
She is currently the Lead Advisor for Diversity at the Arts Council
England, a member of the Decibel Board (Decibel is a national
initiative to raise the profile of culturally diverse arts in
England), a member of the Capital Panel at the Arts Council and a
Council Member of Arts Council England West Midlands region. In a
voluntary capacity she is also a Director of Audiences Central in
Birmingham and Chairs the Advisory Panel of the HUB Centre for
crafts, design and making in Sleaford