TEAM
ELINOR
MW founder, Arts Mentor, Training consultant, Workshops facilitator
Magical Women is the brainchild of Elinor, an Artist, Arts Researcher, Art Psychotherapist, training consultant, and workshop facilitator. Recognising a significant gap in the arts, Elinor observed a lack of spaces for neurodivergent women and non-binary artists to connect, share practices, and collaborate creatively. While there are now more opportunities, the landscape was sparse and often nonexistent for such communities in the past. This absence deeply concerned her, and she sought to address it.
With her first funding application to Arts Council England, Elinor secured support to run online workshops that centre on autistic/ADHD language, identity, and psyche. Her goal was to cultivate an online artist community focused on collaborative rituals and artistic practices, reaching a wide and diverse audience worldwide.
Elinor’s experiences and insights gained from working alongside other neurodivergent women and non-binary artists have led her to pursue PhD research in autistic stimming as an artistic methodology. Over the next four years, she will engage in practice-based research, exploring how autistic artists, particularly women, attend to their creative processes and what this means for the broader arts and cultural landscape.
SPARKY TKO
Workshop Access Support and Journal Writer
Sparky is a writer of poetry and maker of noise from Bedford. Being neurodivergent, they recognise the absolute essence of accessibility, whether within the arts, education or in day-to-day life. They sincerely wish more organisations with Magical Women’s commitment and ethos are supported in breaking down systematic barriers.
GEMMA
Zine publisher, Events facilitator, Training assistant and access support
Gemma is a multidisciplinary artist and Creative Cunning Woman who co-runs the East Anglian Folklore Centre located in The Minories, Colchester. Previously, she served as the Engagement Officer at Sudbury Arts Centre. At Magical Women, Gemma is responsible for publishing our zines and curating and supporting the MW team during both online and in-person events.
Additionally, she provides access support for Elinor during training sessions on Neurodiversity and Access in the Arts for various arts organisations. Gemma is dedicated to creating inviting and nurturing spaces for autistic and ADHD women and non-binary artists.
We are excited about the possibility of hosting new in-person events for Magical Women creatives and artists through Gemma’s initiative in the near future.
ANNABEL EVELYN ARMSTRONG
Graphic Designer & Access Support
LUCIE
PR and communication access support
Lucie believes strongly in the power of the internet helping people to find their tribe.
Magical Women provides a crucial online space for neurodivergent women and non-binary people to share, discuss, learn from and support each other – as well as discover new opportunities to create and sell their art. Lucie wears a few hats for Magical Women, depending on what’s needed at any moment in time. As a PR and marketing professional with nearly 2 decades of experience, she provides support with promotional activity, social media and project management. Elinor and Lucie have been good friends for many years, which also enables Lucie to take an access support role when Elinor needs communication support.
SORCHA PRINGLE
Workshop Access Support and Training Consultant
Sorcha is a musician and access consultant, based in Dundee. She is passionate about making the arts accessible to as many people as possible. Her work focuses on access support and mentoring for Disabled and neurodivergent artists, music projects in schools and accessibility consultancy with organisations of all sizes. She loves projects which explored both big and small topics and especially enjoys songwriting with groups, often being inspired by nature.
You can find out more about her work at Springboard Creative Arts on Facebook and Instagram.