Extraordinary Creatives with Ceri Hand
- 28 APRIL 2025
- JOURNAL
- READ
Ceri Hand interviews Sherry Dobbin, a cultural strategist whose work spans continents and iconic spaces. From starting in theatre to transforming Times Square, Sherry shares how she crafts meaningful cultural experiences that change how we engage with public spaces. She reveals the secrets behind successful public art, innovative funding models and her approach to helping people engage and not feel intimidated by public art.
The conversation leads us through the career journey and how each creative development lead to new empowerment and knowledge. The mixture of theatrical collaboration, dramaturgy and sociology combined with the intellectual pursuit of the systems that make cities and creatives run. These takeaways relate to a 360 perspective that Sherry brings to consultancy clients.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
● Sherry advocates for meeting people where they are by providing simple instructions about what to do rather than what not to do, giving audiences the confidence to engage with even the most challenging art.
● Developing cultural spaces in commercial developments can work when both parties understand value beyond direct financial transactions, arts organisations bring people, energy and identity to developments.
● Cultural organisations should rethink funding models by considering their total operational needs rather than focusing on rigid categories, opening up to partnerships where both parties maintain integrity while addressing shared interests.
● When developing cultural spaces, look to the youngest creators to understand future trends, focus on how artists create rather than what they create to anticipate evolving needs.
● Embracing ‘healthy naivete’ allows for innovation, asking questions and trying approaches that go against expectations can lead to breakthroughs when done with respect and genuine curiosity.
Remember that the younger creatives are more open to entrepreneurial models where there is more control in how money is raised as well as to whom it is shared. Follow their lead.
Find out more: https://www.cerihand.com/extraordinarycreativespodcast/
