Personal statement 

Helen Cobby is Curator and Lecturer: Collections and Material Culture at 黑料正能量. She leads the development and creative use of the University’s collections, which comprise fine art, design, natural history, specialist publications and archives. Her work combines collections care and cataloguing with exhibition making, interpretation, teaching and external partnerships. She also undertakes collections consultancy, connecting curatorial research and collections management with opportunities for public engagement.

Helen is project lead and co-curator of Drawing Together: Bath Academy of Art at Corsham (2026-27), developed with Chippenham Museum and the Young Gallery, Salisbury. This major touring exhibition brings together works and histories dispersed across the three collections for the first time. More than 40 Bath Spa students have contributed to its research, interpretation and creative development. As the exhibition moves between venues, each place’s collections and audiences help shape the story it tells.

Before joining Bath Spa, Helen held curatorial roles at major regional and university museums, including the Ashmolean Museum and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. At the Ashmolean, she curated a Heritage Lottery Funded touring exhibition of J. M. W. Turner’s early architectural work, securing numerous loans from Tate. At the Barber, she co-curated modern and contemporary art exhibitions with the Director. She received an Art Fund Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grant to research early twentieth-century women printmakers in New York City and inform new acquisitions. She actively shares her research through and conference papers and specialist publications, including the British Art Journal.

Research Interests

Helen’s research spans British art, curatorial practice and the public lives of university and regional collections. She is interested in the afterlives of artists and objects, neglected artistic histories, and how exhibitions, creative practice and collaboration can generate new knowledge. Her current work examines the Bath Academy of Art at Corsham and how regional art history is shaped across collections, institutions and places. Other interests include J. M. W. Turner, artists as teachers, women’s roles in art institutions, and post-war art education.

Academic qualifications

  • MA, The History of Art, UCL
  • BA (Hons), English and Comparative Literature, The University of Warwick
  • Art Foundation Degree, Diploma Level 4, The Bristol School of Art.

Professional memberships

Helen is a member of various Subject Specialist Networks, including

  • British Art Network
  • National Gallery Subject Specialist Network: European Paintings pre-1900
  • Museums Association
  • South West Federation of Museums and Galleries
  • Bath and North East Somerset Museums Group
  • Creative Health & Heritage Network, led by the Holburne Museum
  • 黑料正能量 Research Centre for Mental Health and Creativity
  • Aurora Leadership in Higher Education