CVAN WM and CVAN EM are proud to announce the artist and organisation partnerships for Ode to the Midlands (OttM), a major new cross-regional programme investing in artists, organisations, and audiences across the Midlands through digital contemporary art.

The six commissioned artists and their commissioning organisation pairings are:

• Aisling Ward with British Ceramics Biennial
• Andy Harper with Meadow Arts
• Kim Thompson with Herefordshire Museums & Galleries
• Antonio Roberts with Film and Video Umbrella
• Marley Starskey Butler with Arts Collective
• Natasha Taheem with Hub

OttM brings together six organisations across the East and West Midlands to support six mid-career artists from Global Majority, Disabled, Deaf and/or Neurodivergent backgrounds to create ambitious new digital artworks exploring the cultural, historic, and geographical identities of the Midlands. Commissions will be developed and delivered May 2026 – March 2027.

OttM responds to long-standing underinvestment in the Midlands’ visual arts ecology by strengthening regional connectivity, creative opportunity, and public engagement through inclusive digital practice.

The programme is led collaboratively by CVAN EM and CVAN WM, hosted respectively by New Art Exchange (NAE) in Nottingham and DASH in the West Midlands.

OttM is funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

The Ode to the Midlands Advisory Group

Commissioned artists were selected collaboratively by OttM commissioning organisations alongside the OttM Advisory Group. The Advisory Group has played a central role in shaping the programme’s artist-centred and equitable approach to commissioning, ensuring that selection processes reflect the values, experiences, and diversity of the Midlands’ contemporary visual arts communities.

Made up of Midlands-based artists, arts workers, and audience representatives with diverse expertise and lived experience, the Advisory Group supported equitable and collaborative decision-making. CVAN EM and CVAN WM would like to thank Advisory Group members Amrit Doll, Christopher Samuel, Nahashon Kimata, Tierra Davis, Ayesha Jones, Farwa Moledina, Kevin Hunt and Tanya Raabe-Webber for their insight, care, and commitment throughout the selection process. Working closely with Advisory Group Facilitator Ania Bas and Project Manager Colette Griffin, the group has contributed critical perspectives on inclusion, representation and accessibility.

Connecting the Midlands through digital art

At the centre of OttM is a unique cross-regional commissioning model that pairs artists with organisations from neighbouring Midlands regions, encouraging collaboration, knowledge exchange, and new relationships across the sector.

The programme supports artists not only through commissions, but also through mentoring, peer learning, access funding, editorial writing, and professional development. Alongside artist support, OttM invests in organisational development and sector sharing, helping partner organisations build confidence and capacity around equitable and accessible digital commissioning.

Commissions may take the form of exhibitions, performances, installations, web-based projects, participatory experiences, moving image, sound, creative coding, AI-based work, or hybrid digital installations. Projects can be presented online, in galleries, and in public spaces, expanding access for rural, Disabled, and time-poor audiences.

OttM will also deliver a free public workshop programme in partnership with regional universities, designed to build digital skills, encourage experimentation, and confidence in new technologies and inclusive creative practice.

In partnership with Corridor8, the programme will additionally commission critical and creative writing from Midlands-based arts writers, amplifying regional voices and generating reflective responses to the commissioned works.

Platforming voices in digital practice

Grounded in the values and expertise of programme hosts NAE and DASH, OttM prioritises artists historically excluded from digital and immersive arts practice, creating new pathways for visibility, experimentation, and sustainable career development.

CVAN EM is hosted by New Art Exchange, the UK’s largest gallery dedicated to contemporary visual arts from the Global Majority. CVAN WM is hosted by DASH, a Disabled-led visual arts organisation championing Disability Arts and equitable access across the sector.

Image credit: Aisling Ward, nothing is left alone for long (2024).