Professor Alec Shepley

Alec Shepley is an experienced artist, researcher and senior academic based at Wrexham University, North Wales where he is Professor of Arts & Society and Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology. Alec studied his first degree in Fine Art at Wolverhampton and then went to do a Masters’ at Sheffield Hallam University and gained his PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2000.

Alec's expertise is in the field of interdisciplinary art research, often practice-based and with a focus on social concerns and the relationship between art, location and audience. His particular interest is in how art can reach out beyond its own 'echo chamber' and how, through creative, art-based activities, this can lead to positive outcomes for the individual and communities. His project Art+ within Wrexham School of Art, has led to a number of research projects in the fields of art and the digital audience; art and health; art and play; art and community; and most recently art and ecological citizenship, which is an EPSRC funded project (2023-2027) in collaboration with the Royal College of Art and the Stockholm Environment Institute at York University.

As an artist, Alec is best known for his satirical viewpoint and his situated practice which combines traditional methods of art production and aesthetics with ecological, social concerns.

Alec’s research has attracted funding from the EPSRC, AHRC, the British Council, the Arts Council of England and the Arts Council of Wales. His work has been disseminated widely, both nationally and internationally, with examples held in a number of public and private collections in north America, Europe and Asia.