ABOUT JULIE MITCHELL

PRACTICE ETHOS
ART CRAFT & DESIGN NATIONAL CURRICULUM PROPOSAL

Julie Mitchell BEd (Hons) MA FRSA

“What can I say about Julie? Julie is really ‘out there’ – what’s in her head is amazing!” Steve Jevons, Ignite Institute Director and ITT Strategic Lead – Inspire Learning Teaching School Hub, Liverpool and Wirral.

As a qualified teacher since 1991, Julie has worked with over 250 schools and communities nationally and internationally, first as a general primary teacher and then as a CPD/ITT provider.

Her work with children and young people has been exhibited at London’s National Gallery, Salford Lowry, Liverpool Museum, Chester Cathedral, and shared three times at Tate Liverpool (Exchange). The artwork exhibited at Chester Cathedral was part of a community project that won the national award The Land Trust Project of the Year 2018, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Some of her recent activities:

  • In 2024, Julie worked as a teaching support author and consultant for Cambridge International Education (Primary Art and Design). The organisation works with 10,000 schools across 160 countries and is part of Cambridge University and Cambridge University Press and Assessment. They say, “We work with leading authors and educators to ensure our resources meet the needs of the classroom.” 
  • In 2023, Julie published the Art Tree Book CPD series and digital resources package.
  • In 2018 and 2022 Julie was the director and project manager for the Chester Art Beat: a biennial artists-in-residence walking trail in the City of Chester.
  • In 2019, Julie was honoured with a Fellowship from the Royal Society of Arts. Also in 2019, she was a workshop leader at the University of Chester‘s Educating Creatively International Conference and was an INSET trainer at St Catherine’s British School, Athens, Greece.
  • Since 2017 she has been the lead practitioner in art and design, and design technology, for the IGNITE Institute, a School Direct programme leader with University of Chester (Ofsted ‘outstanding’). IGNITE is part of the Inspire Learning Teaching School Hub for Liverpool and Wirral.
  • In 2016 Julie was awarded a ‘SLiCE’ research fellowship with the Arts Council’s northwest bridge organisation Curious Minds (‘SLiCE’ – ‘Specialist Leader in Cultural Education’). Working with several primary schools and Cheshire Dance, she focused on the impact of dance and speech on creative writing for pupil premium pupils.

Supporting Mental Health:

Since 2017 Julie has been a consultant artist and trainer/workshop leader with Merseyside Youth Association’s Mental Health Team. She has:

  • Supported mental health awareness weeks/themes/festivals through providing art workshops for young people. Three times the resulting artworks have been shared at Tate Liverpool (Exchange), with some curation by her.
  • Provided early years mental health training through art and design for professionals (designing the ‘Hands Together‘ course module).
  • Provided workshops with parents and their young children (‘Building Blocks‘ to parent/infant mental health) – the latter work was exhibited with her curation at Liverpool Museum.

Julie is a member of the International Society for Education Through Art, the National Society for Education in Art and Design, the National Education Union and the Free Speech Union.

* BEd (Hons) Professional Studies (Education and Art with Psychology)
MA in Creativity and Education for the Professions (Art, Craft and Design focus)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts