Jonathan Ford is an artist based on Papa Westray (Papay). Papay is a small northern isle of the Orkney archipelago, with a population of 84.
He first travelled to Papay in 2013, to see where the extinct Great auks lived. He moved to the island in 2015, to take up the role of island ranger, employed by the Papay Development Trust. In his role as island ranger, he delivers guided tours and boat trips, engaging visitors with the archaeological, natural and cultural heritage of the island. He also shares the contemporary reality of islands and coastal communities, which includes the effects of climate change, population loss and land stewardship.
He became a Trustee of the Papay Development Trust in 2018, and since 2025, has held the position of Chair. The Trust is led by a volunteer board from the island community. At present the Trust undertakes a wide range of activity, from providing rentable community housing and a community boat scheme, to running the Kelp Store Heritage, Art & Craft Centre, boat trips for visitors to the Holm of Papay, and a community garden project.
Jonathan’s artistic practice includes bird folklorist, dialect collector, curator of feathers, sculptor, performance artist, bird etymologist and guardian of the Auks. He recent collaborative project SurvØY, was developed with artist Saoirse Higgins as a contemporary ‘island almanac’, surveying and monitoring scales of change in the context of Papay.
