Trudie Stephenson has more than 20 years experience in the art world. She studied at Goldsmiths in the late 80’s and exhibited her work throughout the 90’s. Recognising a lack of opportunity for young graduating artists, she became involved in developing artist-run spaces such as Tram Depot and Transit Gallery and pitched exhibitions to art institutions on behalf of the exhibitors. She showcased ‘Sickly Sweet’ at Battersea Arts Centre and ‘Art to Go’ at the ICA. Trudie also initiated the ‘pop up’ show ‘Artsmart’ at 291 Gallery, whereby the gallery was transformed into an art and design supermarket.
This curatorial experience led her to direct major exhibitions at internationally renowned institutions. ‘Marilyn Monroe: Life of a Legend’ brought the largest exhibition ever, devoted to the screen icon Marilyn Monroe, to County Hall Gallery, London and consisted of over 250 works by artists such Andy Warhol, Allen Jones and Henri Cartier-Bresson to name but a few. She also launched ‘FIFA 100’ at the Royal Academy, a unique exhibition of photographs that brought football and art together for the very first time. Trudie then toured the show to European and worldwide venues including the Mori Arts Center in Tokyo.
Other projects have included the curation and management of a charity auction, which necessitated persuading artists such as Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk, Keith Coventry, Tim Noble and Sue Webster and Michael Nyman to donate work in support of Christian Aid. In 2008, on behalf of Opus Art, Trudie project-managed the art fair ‘Kounter Kulture’. It launched in the expansive Truman Brewery building in London’s east end and showcased the work of over 60 UK and international artists.
Trudie has held the position of Managing Director at County Hall Gallery, London and was instrumental in developing the museum collection specialising in the works of Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso. She is the former director of Emineo Fine Art, a reputable fine art consultancy company, who provided specialist advice to a wide portfolio of clients, both private and corporate, to help fulfil their investment objectives. Emineo also provided promising artists with invaluable introductions to gallerists and relevant institutions. The company aided the career development of emerging and established artists; In 2006 Trudie successfully promoted the artist Keith Coventry.
Throughout her career, Trudie has upheld a firm belief in the significance and necessity of providing guidance and support to emerging and established artists. Through her personal experience as a practising artist, she appreciates that many artists do not fully understand the industry system and often lack business acumen. She is dedicated to redressing this shortfall in skills and knowledge, thus empowering artists to achieve their personal work objectives. Through her broad experience as an art professional, she has accumulated the skills necessary to enable artists to develop and sustain their practices at a commercial level. She possesses extensive experience of mentoring artists and can be described as somewhat of a pioneer in this area, having mentored artists and designers since 2000. Trudie first mentored product design students at the Royal College of Art, with projects that launched at the Milan Furniture Fair. In 2007 she developed and delivered the Artists’ Acceleration Programme (AMP) to visual artists in conjunction with Shape Arts, London. AMP offered a range of seminars on fine art business strategies and also provided bespoke one-to-one mentoring, in order to develop both individual practice and an understanding of how to navigate and survive within the fine art industry. This programme was subsequently, and successfully, delivered to BA and MA Fine Art students at Wimbledon School of Art and to the ICA; ‘The Bridge’ project offered professional development sessions to visual artists.
A similar mentoring scheme was initiated within University of the Arts, London in 2010. ‘Well Groomed’ provided final year BA Fine Art students with the opportunity to attend relevant professional development seminars and invaluable bespoke mentoring sessions, in the lead-up to their final show. Trudie was also invited by The Jersey Arts Trust to mentor individuals and to deliver her dynamic group seminars.
