Ben Walmsley

Dr Ben Walmsley is Associate Professor in Audience Engagement in the School of Performance and Cultural Industries at the University of Leeds (UK), where he lectures and researches in areas related to audience engagement, arts management, arts marketing, cultural policy and cultural value. Prior to his academic career, he managed a small touring theatre company before working as a Producer at the National Theatre of Scotland.

Between 2010–2017, Ben was engaged an Artistic Assessor for Arts Council England. Since 2014 he has directed the National Summer School for Arts Fundraising and Leadership and he recently evaluated the national Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy Programme. Ben is the Co-Editor of Arts and the Market and has published widely in a number of peer reviewed journals on arts marketing, arts management, cultural policy and cultural value. Ben is currently running an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded international network for audience research in the performing arts and is writing a research monograph on audience engagement, which will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2018.