Peta Rainford (She/ Her)

Placemaking Creative Producer for the Isle of Wight

Peta joined the Artswork team in June 2023 as Placemaking Creative Producer for the Isle of Wight, Gosport & Havant.

She has had a long and varied career (and the wrinkles to prove it), including many years as a journalist and magazine editor and a decade as a children’s author and illustrator, delivering many creative workshops in schools and in the community. Most recently, Peta worked as programme manager for the Isle of Wight arts-for-wellbeing charity Independent Arts, where she delivered, among other things, the Artwork-funded youth-led placemaking programme, Supporting Young Minds.

Peta is passionate about empowering young people through creativity; to build confidence, increase aspiration, and support mental wellbeing. She is a trustee and organiser of the IW Story Festival, a long-serving school governor and on the Advisory Panel for the IW Creative Network, supporting artists and creatives on the Isle of Wight.

Apart from all that, she is fond of a good book, a game of tennis and walking with her two badly behaved dogs.