About Mark Haywood

Mark Haywood is an educator and visual artist with over 35 years of experience working across the creative sector. His background includes exhibitions, public art commissions, prop-making for film and television, educational workshops, and street performance as part of the artistic duo Haywood & Hix. Alongside his own artistic practice, Mark has consistently developed collaborative projects that connect art, storytelling, making, and public spaces.

For the past seven years, Mark has worked as a qualified teacher leading the art department in a specialist school. In this role he designed and developed a creative curriculum tailored to meet the needs of students on the autistic spectrum, building a programme that prioritises accessibility, curiosity, and confidence through making and visual exploration. His teaching combines practical processes such as drawing, sculpture, model-making and animation with opportunities for students to contribute to meaningful creative outcomes.

A key part of Mark’s approach to education is creating opportunities for students to connect with the wider cultural world. Through partnerships with artists, festivals and organisations such as Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Latitude Festival, he has developed collaborative projects that allow students to see their ideas realised beyond the classroom. These experiences help students recognise that creativity has value in the wider world and that their voices and perspectives matter.

Mark’s commitment to education is deeply informed by his own experiences growing up in the 1970s and 1980s as a dyslexic student at a time when learning differences were often poorly understood. These early challenges shaped his belief in the transformative power of art and creativity. Through teaching and collaborative projects, he aims to create learning environments where students develop confidence, discover their creative voice, and begin to see themselves as capable contributors to culture and society.

For Mark, art education is not simply about developing artistic skills. It is about helping young people understand themselves, engage with the world around them, and build the confidence to navigate life’s challenges with imagination and resilience.