Whispers
Public Art Trail
Whispers is a new public art trail that connects the existing campus of Winchester School of Art (WSA) and Winchester Gallery with Capital House, a former civic building currently being transformed into a Centre for Creative Technologies. Launching on Thursday 7 May 2026 with an opening event at Winchester Gallery (6–8pm), the project marks the first public works emerging from the Social Practice Lab, which is led by Professor Teresa Dillon, in collaboration with Fine Art lecturer Julia Vogl.
The project condenses over six months of collaborative development that brought together staff and students from across BA and MA Fine Art, BA Games Design and Art, MSc Creative Computing, and MA Contemporary Curating.
Developed through a model of peer support and staff-student mentoring, under the guidance of Dillon and Vogl, whose practices often focus on participation, ecology, and collective knowledge, Whispers explores how artistic know-how, digital technologies, and curatorial research can work together to engage audiences to reconnect in new ways with their place and surrounds.
The project also represents the first major curatorial undertaking by Jiaye (Zoe) Zhao and Xuan (Zane) Wang, who are currently completing the MA Contemporary Curating programme at WSA. With Zhao and Wang taking on every aspect of the project from its inception to graphic design, delivery and implementation, Whispers demonstrates how learning and creative practice can be developed through real-world collaboration.
Through the process of producing the exhibition and public art trail, students gain opportunities to build practical experience while strengthening their artistic, design, and curatorial knowledge.
Exhibiting Work and Artists
Transforming the liminal spaces between the two sites into locations for artistic encounter, Whispers frames the journey itself as part of the artwork, encouraging visitors to engage with the ecological and cultural layers embedded within the surrounding environment.
Sixteen artworks, including audio compositions, paintings, illustrations, video works, and installations are distributed across three short walking routes (each approximately 11–15 minutes) linking the existing campus with Capital House. Works are geo-located along the trail and can also be experienced through the Whispers online gallery.
Inspired by artistic practices that use locative media and walking as a method for slowing down and engaging with place, Whispers invites audiences to experience the sensorial and often intangible qualities of the local landscape. The works explore plant and animal histories, atmospheric qualities, and subtle environmental traces that shape the character of Winchester. Along the route, artworks reflect on how landscapes “whisper”, sharing stories, memories, and ecological signals that often go unnoticed in everyday movement through the city.
Participating artists include Amy Mackintosh, Binyan Huang, Dave Gibson, Evie Pierrepont, Heyi Wang, Julia Vogl, Kai Guan, Lara Wells, Matilda Blades, Maire Jarrell, Rosie Johnson, Scarlett Tiana White, Teresa Dillon, Vic Wang, Yadira Sanchez, and Zahra Maymet.
