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Martin O'Neill is an artist, cultural strategist and creative placemaking leader whose practice explores the relationship between imagination, democracy and place. Working across poetry, theatre, sound, installation, publishing, participatory performance, creative technology and civic design, he develops projects that invite people to become active authors of the places they inhabit.

His work moves fluidly between artistic practice and cultural leadership, bringing together communities, artists, public bodies and organisations to imagine new possibilities for civic life. Whether creating immersive public artworks, producing participatory theatre, leading long-term regeneration programmes or shaping cultural strategy, his practice is grounded in the belief that creativity is not simply a means of expression, but a democratic act capable of strengthening belonging, redistributing power and enabling communities to shape their own futures.

Influenced by magical realism, Martin creates work that reveals the extraordinary within the everyday. He is interested in moments where reality becomes gently unsettled, where a forgotten building becomes a stage, a river becomes an archive, a castle becomes a space for collective imagination, or a newspaper becomes a tool for civic participation. These acts of transformation invite audiences to look again at familiar places, histories and relationships, opening space for new stories and new ways of being together.

Alongside his artistic practice, Martin collaborates with cultural organisations, local authorities and community partnerships to develop participatory strategies, creative consultation processes and place-based programmes that place culture at the heart of social change. His work challenges conventional distinctions between artist, producer, strategist and institution, arguing instead for a practice that is collaborative, interdisciplinary and rooted in public life.

Across his practice runs a consistent proposition: that imagination is civic work. By designing the conditions for people to think, make and act together, Martin's work seeks to demonstrate how culture can become an infrastructure for participation, social justice and collective authorship, helping communities not simply to inhabit places, but to continually remake them.