Vanessa Jane Oxspring 1974 – 2025

Today we say goodbye to our friend and former First Art colleague Vanessa Oxspring, who passed away on 20 August 2025 after an 11-year battle with cancer.

After first meeting Vanessa in 2019 we were instantly drawn to her warmth and endless passion and energy for the arts and that was that.

Vanessa became involved with First Art through the first ever Full Shebang Festival. Never one to shy away from a challenge, she got stuck in and helped keep things running smoothly even when Karl (Director) locked his keys and suitcase in his car!

She went on to be an integral part of the small but mighty First Art team, in particular, helping navigate and deliver our programme amidst the curve balls that Covid threw at us all.

Unstoppable energy and drive

Vanessa worked tirelessly on many First Art projects, both in the planning to being on the ground making it happen: helping pull together the Everybody’s Home Kit and getting them out across the districts, running events as part of the Remote Access programme, hosting online pizza parties, and putting on Secret Picnics.

A ‘Rubbish Portrait’ of Vanessa by artist Lucie Sheridan, from the Rubblish Portraits Online part of Remote Access.

Vanessa delivering lantern kits to Leamington Primary Academy for the Light Up project.

Engaging all

Vanessa also oversaw Inside Eye Cinema, a youth-led immersive cinema experience, Back to Normal, a Without Walls funded partnership project with Daryl Beeton and OneConversation (Unanima), and the second phase of Light Up which brought together young people and those living in care homes. And it was Vanessa that enabled the young dancers from Leamington Primary Academy to be part of the Neon Ballroom, one of the highlights at the 2022 Light Night Ashfield.

Vanessa in full swing at the Inside Eye Cinema event for the film ‘Elf’. Image © Lamar Francois

 

Vanessa and her own little helper welcoming people to the Inside Eye Cinema event Image © Lamar Francois

A group of young dancers from Leamington Primary Academy take to the floor for the Neon Ballroom held at Regency Dance in Sutton in Ashfield as part of the Light Night Ashfield 2022, produced and presented by First Art. Image © Lamar Francois.

A life in the arts

Vanessa’s career in the participatory arts and cultural sector spanned over 25 years.

A professional dancer, Vanessa decided on a career in the arts at the age of 15 when she was chosen to be part of a tour around Russia with Leicestershire Youth Dance.

She said of it this:

[it] opened my eyes to how the arts could take you to different places, experience culture and how dance could reach diverse communities”.

She went on to work for well-known dance companies and organisations including People Dancing, Gary Clarke Company, and Rosie Kay Dance Company, together with Dance4 (Fabric), Made in Corby (Made with Many, a CPP like First Art), before coming to First Art.

Latterly, Vanessa worked as a consultant as well as lead for the Captivate programme with Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries. Alongside this she led her own projects through her business V.create, and took on a role with Arts Council England’s Place-Based Peer learning programme as one of three consultants representing different place-based sectors.

We continued to work closely with Vanessa in her lead role at Captivate and the youth volunteering project Takeover.

Kate, Marketing and Audience Development Manager, recalls of Vanessa:

She threw everything into her work and her determination to make things happen was evident. A meeting with V usally took place as she was juggling several different tasks, often meeting at points on the way somewhere she had to be, so she could be in two places at once, so that things would happen.

She was great at bringing people together, making ideas happen, all the while with a big smile on her face and a cheeky giggle.”

Karl concurs:

I had so many meetings with Vanessa on the go, whether it was on the beach in Crete (where she was known as the Queen of Crete), in her car, or from her kitchen. The list goes on. It shows just how much of a people-person she was, always making connections and making things happen.”

Our love and thoughts go out to V’s family, friends and colleagues.

We will miss her deeply. But, as so many have said, her legacy lives on in the work she led, the projects she enabled, and the countless young people she inspired through the arts.

At First Art, we are determined to carry forward the work Vanessa championed. We will continue to create the pathways and platforms into the arts that first inspired her as a 15-year-old, ensuring others have the same opportunities to be inspired and take part in culture regardless of their background.

Hear first-hand how First Art, led by Vanessa, teamed up with schools and care homes to brighten peoples’ days across Leamington in Ashfield, Bellamy Road in Mansfield, South Normanton in Bolsover and Clay Cross in North East Derbyshire. Film by Todd Franklin of Spore Media.