Rachel Boyd

Rachel Boyd is in her second year of a PhD at Northumbria University. Her writing has been featured in the Scottish Society for the History of Photography, MAP Magazine and New Internationalist. Her research explores the intersection between co-production, care, and community in expanding notions of artistic practice supported by women. 

Her PhD, a Northern Bridge AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award, centres on the Laing Art Gallery’s recent acquisition of the archive and collection belonging to the disabled artist-curator Nerys Johnson (1942-2001). 

This body of research will contribute to an upcoming retrospective of Johnson’s life and work, curated by Rachel and which will open at the Laing’s Watercolour Gallery in January 2025. Rachel previously formed part of the editorial team for Disability Arts Online, an online arts journal supported by Arts Council England, which actively profiles the work of disabled artists from across the UK.