A Field Guide to Artist-Researcher Collaborations

Jean McEwan; Susan Morrison; Rhiannon Bull; Jimmy Turner

doi:10.2218/ED.9781836451648

A Field Guide to Artist-Researcher Collaborations

Jean McEwan, Susan Morrison, Rhiannon Bull, Jimmy Turner

School of Social and Political Science

Research output: Book/Report › Book

Abstract

How can you ensure that collaborations involving academic researchers and creative practitioners are as ethical and effective as possible?

This Field Guide is designed to help you navigate the terrain, not as a how-to or step-by-step process, but rather as a tool to aid exploration. Field Guide’s are particularly useful when exploring and engaging with unfamiliar terrain, and this one has been designed to be interactive, so you can annotate and doodle in it as you conduct your own explorations in new realms.

A product of collaboration in its own right, the Field Guide is a product of twenty-two artists, creatives, and researchers working together to identify the main challenges they face when seeking to work together, and offering guidance on how to navigate them. These include topics relating to:
- Fair pay
- Power structures
- Navigating one another’s worlds
- Mutual respect
- Communication
It is designed to be of value to anyone interested in co-creative research practices, whether as a creative, researcher, student, or interested bystander. You can read it cover to cover, or sample only the knowledge you need. We just hope it helps you to navigate these relationships with greater ease, effectiveness, and empathy!

This is the first book in The Outwith Field Guide’s book series, which helps to equip researchers and collaborators with tools that can help them along their various participatory research journeys.

Contributing Co-Authors:

Helen Boden
Rhiannon Bull
Jenny Capon
Catherine Cartwright
Federica Cologna
Tainá da Rocha Val (Cinna)
Susie Rose Dalton
Kate Fox
John Glenday
Robin Grainger
Brian Hartley
Elsie MacDonald
Hector MacInnes
Eilidh Manson
Moral Masuoka
Jean McEwan
Susan Morrison
Nicola Osborne
Rosie Aspinall Priest
Bobby Sayers
John Scott
Josie Tothill
Jimmy Turner
Lisa Williams

Original language	English
Place of Publication	Edinburgh
Publisher	Edinburgh Diamond
Number of pages	124
ISBN (Electronic)	9781836451648
ISBN (Print)	9781836451655
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2218/ED.9781836451648
Publication status	Published - 20 Mar 2026

Publication series

Name	Outwith Field Guides
Publisher	Edinburgh Diamond

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Binks Hub
creative methods
field guide
artist-researcher collaboration
participatory research
arts based research
artistic collaborations

Access to Document

10.2218/ED.9781836451648Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)

McEwanEtal2026AFieldGuideFinal published version, 114 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)

1 Finished
1 Active

Binks: The Binks Hub - Co-creating research for human flourishing
Davidson, E. (Principal Investigator), Roesch-Marsh, A. (Principal Investigator), De Andrade, M. (Principal Investigator), Turner, J. (Researcher) & Bull, R. (Other)
1/04/21 → 31/08/26
Project: Research
Creating Together - A field guide for artist-researcher collaborations
Turner, J. (Principal Investigator), Bull, R. (Principal Investigator), McEwan, J. (Principal Investigator) & Morrison, S. (Principal Investigator)
16/05/24 → 30/04/26
Project: Research

Creating Together: A Field Guide for Artist-Researcher Collaborations
Turner, J., Bull, R., McEwan, J. & Morrison, S., 10 Sept 2024, The University of Edinburgh.
Research output: Other contribution

2 Participation in workshop, seminar, course
1 Participation in conference
1 Public Engagement – Public lecture/debate/seminar

Working with community-driven definitions and understandings of ‘impact’
Turner, J. (Organiser), Taylor, E. (Organiser) & Beattie, L. (Organiser)
28 May 2026
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
How to start thinking about collaborating with artists
Turner, J. (Organiser) & Saffrey Stuart, E. (Organiser)
8 May 2026
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
A Field Guide to Artist-Researcher Collaborations: Book Launch
Turner, J. (Organiser), Bull, R. (Organiser), McEwan, J. (Organiser), Morrison, S. (Organiser) & Coleman, N. (Organiser)
2 Apr 2026
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Public Engagement – Public lecture/debate/seminar

Cite this

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title = "A Field Guide to Artist-Researcher Collaborations",

abstract = "How can you ensure that collaborations involving academic researchers and creative practitioners are as ethical and effective as possible? This Field Guide is designed to help you navigate the terrain, not as a how-to or step-by-step process, but rather as a tool to aid exploration. Field Guide{\textquoteright}s are particularly useful when exploring and engaging with unfamiliar terrain, and this one has been designed to be interactive, so you can annotate and doodle in it as you conduct your own explorations in new realms. A product of collaboration in its own right, the Field Guide is a product of twenty-two artists, creatives, and researchers working together to identify the main challenges they face when seeking to work together, and offering guidance on how to navigate them. These include topics relating to: - Fair pay - Power structures - Navigating one another{\textquoteright}s worlds - Mutual respect - Communication It is designed to be of value to anyone interested in co-creative research practices, whether as a creative, researcher, student, or interested bystander. You can read it cover to cover, or sample only the knowledge you need. We just hope it helps you to navigate these relationships with greater ease, effectiveness, and empathy! This is the first book in The Outwith Field Guide{\textquoteright}s book series, which helps to equip researchers and collaborators with tools that can help them along their various participatory research journeys. Contributing Co-Authors: Helen Boden Rhiannon Bull Jenny Capon Catherine Cartwright Federica Cologna Tain{\'a} da Rocha Val (Cinna) Susie Rose Dalton Kate Fox John Glenday Robin Grainger Brian Hartley Elsie MacDonald Hector MacInnes Eilidh Manson Moral Masuoka Jean McEwan Susan Morrison Nicola Osborne Rosie Aspinall Priest Bobby Sayers John Scott Josie Tothill Jimmy Turner Lisa Williams",

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N2 - How can you ensure that collaborations involving academic researchers and creative practitioners are as ethical and effective as possible? This Field Guide is designed to help you navigate the terrain, not as a how-to or step-by-step process, but rather as a tool to aid exploration. Field Guide’s are particularly useful when exploring and engaging with unfamiliar terrain, and this one has been designed to be interactive, so you can annotate and doodle in it as you conduct your own explorations in new realms. A product of collaboration in its own right, the Field Guide is a product of twenty-two artists, creatives, and researchers working together to identify the main challenges they face when seeking to work together, and offering guidance on how to navigate them. These include topics relating to: - Fair pay - Power structures - Navigating one another’s worlds - Mutual respect - Communication It is designed to be of value to anyone interested in co-creative research practices, whether as a creative, researcher, student, or interested bystander. You can read it cover to cover, or sample only the knowledge you need. We just hope it helps you to navigate these relationships with greater ease, effectiveness, and empathy! This is the first book in The Outwith Field Guide’s book series, which helps to equip researchers and collaborators with tools that can help them along their various participatory research journeys. Contributing Co-Authors: Helen Boden Rhiannon Bull Jenny Capon Catherine Cartwright Federica Cologna Tainá da Rocha Val (Cinna) Susie Rose Dalton Kate Fox John Glenday Robin Grainger Brian Hartley Elsie MacDonald Hector MacInnes Eilidh Manson Moral Masuoka Jean McEwan Susan Morrison Nicola Osborne Rosie Aspinall Priest Bobby Sayers John Scott Josie Tothill Jimmy Turner Lisa Williams

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PB - Edinburgh Diamond

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ER -

A Field Guide to Artist-Researcher Collaborations

Abstract

Publication series

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

Binks: The Binks Hub - Co-creating research for human flourishing

Creating Together - A field guide for artist-researcher collaborations

Research output

Creating Together: A Field Guide for Artist-Researcher Collaborations

Activities

Working with community-driven definitions and understandings of ‘impact’

How to start thinking about collaborating with artists

A Field Guide to Artist-Researcher Collaborations: Book Launch

Cite this