Matt Baker has been a full-time public artist since 1995. He was Lead Artist for the City of Inverness from 2006-10 and led the arts strategy for the Gorbals (Glasgow) regeneration project from 1999-2005.
Since 2011 he has focused on long-term activist strategies for integrating creative practice into the social, economic and political structures of his home region in South West Scotland. He founded and leads The Stove Network in the heart of Dumfries town centre. The Stove is a social enterprise working in partnership with the local community and providing regular employment for 20+ people from the creative sector. The Stove is the only Community Development Trust run by artists in Britain and won the Creative Regeneration category of the Scottish Regeneration Awards in 2016.
Matt was a founder of the Midsteeple Quarter community-led regeneration project for Dumfries town centre and is the Chair of LIFT D+G (Lochside Is Families Together). He was Co-Chair of Scotland’s National Partnership for Culture from April 2020 – November 2023.