Meet Kevin Dalton-Johnson

I am Dr Kevin Dalton‑Johnson, a Black British artist, educator and researcher working where art, education and activism meet. Over 30 years in classrooms, studios and communities—from mainstream and sixth form to SEND, complex learning difficulties, SEMH and offender learning as an LDD Coordinator—I’ve used sculpture, installation and curriculum work to confront racism, honour Black experience and open up new possibilities for change.

What I do

• Transform education through art – drawing on three decades of pedagogic practice (now retired from school teaching) across mainstream, SEND, SEMH, complex learning difficulties, sixth form and offender learning, I use creative practice to challenge Eurocentric curricula and support teachers and students to re‑imagine what education can be.
   
• Shape international dialogues through residencies – through major art residencies including Tolhuistuin (Amsterdam), Soleil d’Afrique (Bamako, Mali) and IFAA08 (Arnhem), I’ve developed work that connects Black British, Pan‑African and diasporic perspectives, feeding directly back into my teaching, mentoring and research.
   
• Create and curate ground‑breaking exhibitions – curating and contributing to projects such as Africa 53 (Barnsley), As it Is: Statements of Intent (Dubai), Trade & Empire (Whitworth, Manchester), Hidden Histories: Daniel Hotani and What Art Can Do (Amsterdam), I challenge primitive, colonial framings of African and diasporic art and centre contemporary Black creative sovereignty.
   
• Shape public memory in bronze and clay – public works like Mother Said (Moss Side, Manchester), Captured Africans (Lancaster) and installations such as Strange Fruit (Amsterdam) and One Narrative (The Whitaker) make hidden histories, Black educational experience and resistance visible in everyday spaces.
   
• Lead research for sector change – as Creative Impact Lead on the Runnymede Trust’s Visualise report and the international Good Trouble project, and through my EdD research on Black teachers’ lives, I develop arts‑based, anti‑racist strategies with educators, institutions and communities.
   
• Teach, mentor and build community – through masterclasses and programmes like The World Reimagined, the Portico Ubuntu Pan‑African Masterclass, and residencies in schools, galleries and libraries, I work alongside students and teachers to embed anti‑racist, culturally sustaining practice.

I draw inspiration from the people, histories and places that have marked me—family, Black teachers and students, Rastafarian and Pan‑African thought, the streets, prisons, schools and galleries I’ve worked in. My aim is to make art that feels alive: work that evokes emotion, confronts racism and carries a story you can’t easily forget.

Services
I work with Universities, galleries, museums, community groups and commissioners as an artist, Senior Researcher and Creative Impact Lead.

I offer:

• Commissioned artworks & public sculpture
  Site‑specific sculptures, installations and public art projects rooted in Black histories, Pan‑African thought and place‑based research.
• Exhibitions, curation & consultancy
  Curating and co‑curating exhibitions, advising on race, inclusion and representation in collections, programmes and interpretation.
• Talks, masterclasses & CPD
  Keynotes, artist talks, workshops and teacher training on Black education, art pedagogy, anti‑racist curriculum and creative research methods.
• Research & creative impact projects
  Designing and leading arts‑based research, evaluation and creative impact work (e.g. Visualise, Good Trouble) with institutions and partners.

Contact me to discuss a commission, collaboration, residency or training for your organisation.