Vasey, George
George Vasey is a curator and writer based in Newcastle. He has written reviews
and articles for Art Monthly, Kaleidoscope and Art Review. He has been invited by
galleries and artists to contribute to numerous catalogue essays and in 2013 was a
writer in residence at the Jerwood Space. As a curator he has worked
independently organising exhibitions and screenings for artist-led, public and
commercial galleries nationally. He is currently curator at the Northern Gallery for
Contemporary Art in Sunderland. He gained an MFA in curating from Goldsmiths
in 2013 and has worked in a wide range of roles for the ICA, University of Arts
London, SPACE and Studio Voltaire over the last 5 years.
Walker, Debra
Debra has worked for local authority museums, regional agencies and a national
museum. Her career has centered on developing access to and active
engagement with cultural venues. She has initiated, developed, managed and
evaluated many collaborative projects and programmes, working with a diverse
range of partners, including local authorities, learning and skills institutions, cultural
organisations and community based agencies. A year before the museum opened
she joined the Imperial War Museum North and was responsible for establishing
its award winning Learning & Access Department and Volunteer Programme. In
October 2007 she became a freelance consultant specialising in learning,
community engagement and audience development. She works with and for
organisations to develop creative and cooperative ways of working by brokering
new partnerships, bringing organisations and people together for the first time to
develop and fund raise for projects with joint goals and outcomes. These projects
have developed peoples’ skills, self-confidence and of course creativity, and have
been used as models/effective practice to demonstrate on how creative high
quality projects can leave a positive impact and become self-sustaining.
Walmsley, Ben
Ben is Senior Lecturer in Arts & Entertainment Management at Leeds Metropolitan
University, and has a professional background in theatre producing. In 1997, he
produced and directed Ionesco’s La Cantatrice Chauve as part of the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival, before moving to Paris, where he taught at the Sorbonne and
managed One World Actors Productions for two years. He then moved back to the
UK to manage the Scottish touring company Benchtours, before taking up a
managerial post at the new National Theatre of Scotland. Ben is a modern
languages graduate from Nottingham University and holds an MBA from the
University of Surrey’s School of Management. In 2000, he completed a PhD in
French Theatre and Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, comparing the plays
of Jean-Paul Sartre and Eugène Ionesco. His current research interests are
related to the qualitative value and impact of theatre from the audience
perspective.
Walters, Dorcas
Dorcas Walters was a principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet, having
joined the company in 1986 when it was still Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet. She
danced a range of traditional and modern classics as well as contemporary pieces
and worked with many different choreographers, but her expertise is in classical
ballet. After retiring from dancing in 2004, she ran a marketing business from
home and taught the exercise programme Gyrotonic. Dorcas has recently
graduated as a Clore Fellow on The Clore Leadership Programme. While on the
programme, she studied management, leadership, fundraising, marketing and
coaching, researched dancers’ professional development, and worked at the Royal
Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Wells, Jane
Jane Wells studied musical composition and has a catalogue of over 40 concert
compositions. Live performances include In These Places, a saxophone concerto,
and Here’s What I Saw, a music-theatre work for the 1997 Year of Opera and
Music Theatre. In the 1980s she collaborated with several choreographers and
dance pieces with her music were toured extensively. Broadcasts have included
two collaborative pieces and a clarinet quintet. Jane has directed On The Edge
Ensemble in chamber music tours, currently directs Hoofbeat Street Band, and is
musical director of two community choirs. She has been involved in educational
music activity over many years, frequently with instrumentalists from chamber
orchestras such as Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and City of London
Sinfonia. Jane has been a committee member for Women in Music, a
representative for Eastern Orchestral Board and a Director/Trustee for Orchestras
Live, and has been a juror on several occasions for BASCA’s British Composer
Awards.
Whyte, Bridget
Bridget Whyte is a freelance consultant working primarily in music education.
Bridget started her career working for Arts Council England in the South East. In
1992 she moved to London to take up the post of Secretary for the Orchestra of
the Age of Enlightenment before becoming the Administrator for the Early Music
Faculty at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1995 Bridget began working as a
freelance consultant with early clients including the Handel House Trust and Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians. She has now worked with over 40
organisations including the Department of Education, Sing Up, Youth Music and
various local authorities and music services. Her skills include organisational
development, facilitation, project management, evaluation and research. Currently
Bridget is managing World Voice – a global singing in education programme – for
the British Council as well as being an Associate Lecturer at the Universities of
Surrey and Winchester.
Wigmore, Heidi
Heidi Wigmore is a practising artist and art educator. She gained a Fine Art MA at
University of East London in 2001 and was associate lecturer for the BA Fine Art
programme for Essex University until 2010, acting as Course Leader in 2009/10.
Heidi has led artist workshops in schools, at Bullwood Hall women’s prison, and for
Focal Point Gallery and Metal. She has led courses at Firstsite, is a visiting
lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University and leads live drawing events for English
National Ballet across the country. In 2011 she was commissioned to customize a
beach hut for the Festival of Britain at the Southbank Centre and a contemporary
'shell grotto' installation. She has project managed a one-day arts festival for Metal
Culture which encouraged imaginative play for all ages through participatory art
works and artist-led events. In 2012 she launched a billboard project 'Independent
Free State' that toured around prime London locations.
Wilcox, Emma
Emma Wilcox works as an independent producer and project manager with a
particular interest in site responsive and publicly accessible work. She worked in
the public sector for 8 years after a career in the commercial design sector. She
project managed Alex Hartley’s new commission for the 2014 Folkestone Triennial
and programmed a four month festival in Margate for Turner Contemporary.
Previously a Senior Manager at the Arts Council she worked with local government
and other key partners to ensure a coherent and strategic approach to investment
and the successful delivery of projects. Emma has worked with grant funded
organisations at a variety of scales from small artist-led projects like OVADA to
organisations such as Milton Keynes Gallery, Fabrica and Aspex. Whilst at Kent
County Council she developed Artlands, a programme of large scale commissions
in the public realm across North Kent. Emma teaches Engaging Audiences at
Trinity Laban, working to ensure that undergraduates gain a good understanding
of marketing and audience development as part of their learning. Emma is a
qualified Action Learning facilitator and alumni of the Clore programme.
Williams, Frankie
Frankie Williams is a consultant in education, music and culture. She has been a
teacher and adviser, and until 2011 was General Inspector (Music and Culture) for
Cambridgeshire. Frankie has a BMus (Hons) from University of Nottingham,
studied education at the University of Birmingham and business at Cass Business
School. Her Master’s and Doctoral research at the Institute of Education in London
centred around partnerships between professional music organisations and
schools. She was Vice-Chairman of the National Association of Youth Orchestras
and has been on several national and European boards. Frankie founded and ran
an amateur symphony orchestra and a professional chamber orchestra, and has
acted as a consultant for organisations including the BBC Proms, The Sage
Gateshead, Orchestras Live (EOB) and the Specialist Schools and Academies
Trust. She has worked on education projects with the Royal Opera House, London
Sinfonietta, Glyndebourne, Aldeburgh Young Musicians, and many orchestras.
Wills, Jackie
Jackie Wills is a poet, non-fiction writer, critic and editor. She has been Royal
Literary Fund Fellow at Sussex and Surrey universities, is an Associate Lecturer in
creative writing for the Open University and teaches on the Creative Writing
Programme in Brighton. Jackie has published five collections of poetry - her most
recent is Woman's Head As Jug (Arc 2013). She was shortlisted for the 1995 TS
Eliot prize, was one of Mslexia magazine’s top 10 new women poets in 2004, and
Aldeburgh Poetry Festival’s Poet in Residence. Jackie has written for national
papers and magazines, published books on retail design and globalisation, and
edited an English/Arabic collection of reminiscences by Sudanese refugees.
Wimhurst, Karen
Karen Wimhurst is a freelance composer, performer, educator working for
organizations throughout the UK. Versatile and eclectic, her work includes many
cross-disciplinary collaborations; recent examples include the chamber opera
piece ‘Miriam’ in association with entomologist Peter Smithers and Electric Voice
Theatre; ‘Fruit of Paradise’ commissioned by the environmental company
Common Ground; ‘Darwin and the Barnacle’ with artist Keith McIntyre and the
University of Plymouth. She is an experienced theatre composer with the
theatrework ‘Get Up and Tie Your Fingers’ touring in 2014 (‘innovative, choral
theatre’ the Stage). Experienced in many different community settings, large scale
works include ‘City Songs’ for orchestra, children’s choir, soloists WNO MAX;
‘Alive and Kicking’ for improvising youth string orchestra and Manchester
Camerata. Founder of ‘ Cauld Blast Orchestra’, (twice winner of the Scottish Jazz
Awards) and performer with the free-improvisation group Zaum, (‘ the most
exciting group in Europe today’ Penguin Guide to Jazz ‘06), she is currently touring
with Pagoda, PLF and Misbehavin’.
Wide, Kim
Kim Wide is a curator and arts professional interested in communications,
engagement, access to the arts and impacts of social practice. She has worked
both nationally and internationally to engage communities and the public in
contemporary arts and culture and has worked with many galleries, museums,
local government, health and other public service providers, schools and further
and higher education organisations to programme off-site and community
embedded work which feeds into larger strategies for local areas. Kim came from
a museum and heritage background, working as a museum professional in
Canada for the City of Toronto and as Assistant Curator at the Government of
Ontario Art Collection. In 2003, Kim came to the UK and has worked here for as
Audience Development Officer at ArtSway and Acting Director of Kaleido
Arts. Since 2009, Kim has been Executive Director of Take A Part CIC, where she
has established an innovative co-commissioning curatorial process developed and
managed by communities themselves and engages hard to reach areas of
Plymouth in multiple, high quality art experiences.
Winterson, Julia
Julia Winterson combines music lecturing at the University of Huddersfield with
freelance writing and research. She has worked as the music Qualification Leader
for Edexcel and as Head of New Music for Peters Edition. Publications include
seven anthologies of music for schools, Pop Music: The Text Book and numerous
articles for music magazines and academic journals. She has recently completed
two books of music theory - one for classical musicians and the other for rock and
pop students and is now editing two publications about the composer John Cage.
She has a good deal of experience of participatory work as a researcher, evaluator
and course writer and has completed commissioned projects for Opera North,
London Sinfonietta, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and the
CBSO. For several years she was a member of the MPA (Music Publishers
Association) Education and Training Committee and the British Section of ISCM
(International Society of Contemporary Music).
Wise, Philip
Philip Wise read archaeology and anthropology at Downing College, Cambridge
and subsequently studied curatorship at the Department of Museum Studies,
University of Leicester and heritage management at the Institute of Archaeology,
University College London. He has worked in a variety of local authority museums
since 1983, initially as an archaeological curator and more recently as a manager.
For the last sixteen years he has been responsible for the heritage management of
Colchester’s archaeological sites and monuments. Most recently he led on the
heritage aspects of the successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the project
to redevelop Colchester Castle and increase access to the town’s wider heritage.
Since October 2012 he has been Collections and Curatorial Manager with
Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service. Philip is an Associate Member of the
Museums Association, a Member of the Institute for Archaeologists and was
Chairman of the Society of Museum Archaeologists from 2006-2009 and of the UK
Archaeological Archives Forum from 2007-2011. In December 2012 Philip was
appointed to the Accreditation Committee of Arts Council England. He is currently
a trustee of Museums Essex and is the Museum Mentor for Orford Museum Trust.
For many years he has been interested in archaeological reconstruction, including
most recently the use of virtual reality, and in the curatorial aspects of collections
management.
Wolfe, Lisa
Lisa Wolfe is an arts manager and producer. For the past ten years she has been
Administrative Producer for the writer and actor Tim Crouch. She also works with
Liz Aggiss, whose body of work encompasses choreography, performance and
dance-film, and Sue MacLaine, writer and performer. Lisa is Marketing Manager
for the disability arts company Carousel and has a background in marketing, most
notably with Brighton Festival and Dome, for whom she was Head of Marketing
before leaving in 2001 to diversify her career. Lisa has worked in recent years for
the comedy theatre company Spymonkey, Chichester Festival Theatre, South East
Dance and Arts Council England South East. She is on the advisory boards of
Spymonkey and HOUSE visual arts festival, performs occasionally and writes on
theatre and live art for Total Theatre Magazine.
Woods, Gregory
Gregory Woods is a poet, cultural historian and teacher. His poetry collections, We
Have the Melon (1992), May I Say Nothing (1998), The District Commissioner’s
Dreams (2002), Quidnunc (2007) and An Ordinary Dog (2011), are published by
Carcanet Press. His main critical books, Articulate Flesh: Male Homo-eroticism
and Modern Poetry (1987) and A History of Gay Literature: The Male Tradition
(1998), is published by Yale University Press. He has published numerous essays
on queer verbal and visual cultures, including film, television, shopping catalogues,
travel brochures, cartoons, etc. In 1998, Gregory was appointed as the UK’s first
Professor of Gay and Lesbian Studies by Nottingham Trent University, where he
also ran the doctoral programme in creative writing. He retired in 2013. Gregory is
a member of the peer review colleges of the Arts and Humanities Research
Council and the European Science Foundation. He has served on the board of
directors of East Midlands Arts.
Wright, Fiona
Fiona Wright is an Independent artist and Feldenkrais Method practitioner. She
has been making performances since the late 1980s, working through
choreography, writing and installation. Her solo work includes a series of close-up
and ‘one-to-one’ performances, several performance lectures, a practice-based
PhD project (2005) and the solo, On Lying, which was seen at the National Review
of Live Art, Glasgow 2010. Ongoing collaborations include a duet with Caroline
Bowditch as girl jonah, and the History Dances projects with video artist Becky
Edmunds. Fiona has long experience teaching in Higher Education, now working
in a freelance capacity, including being invited as visiting artist in Performance at
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and most recently at Brighton University.
She has also worked with Simone Aughterlony (Zurich/Berlin) as dramaturge and
performer and was a performer in Entitled, a theatre piece by the Manchesterbased company Quarantine. She is currently an Honorary Research Associate at
Birkbeck’s Centre for Contemporary Arts (School of Arts) and recent projects
include the small-scale video installation Distant Wars (2013) with Becky
Edmunds.
Wright, Tom
Tom Wright is Associate Director of Freedom Studios, a Bradford-based company
focusing on work challenging prejudice in its different forms, currently ageism in
the national tour of Home Sweet Home, and race through the founding of an interracial youth theatre. Tom trained as an assistant director at Bristol Old Vic, Young
Vic (on the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme), West Yorkshire Playhouse
and RSC. As a freelancer, his work has gone from tai chi movement in The Soul of
Chi’en-Nu Leaves Her Body, film noir in David Mamet’s The Water Engine,
vaudeville in the Spanish classic Ay Carmela!, to site-specific in Fringe First winner
The Container. Tom has run workshops for emerging professionals, from actor
training at Drama schools (Guildhall, Mountview, Manchester Met, Rose Bruford,
GSA and BSA), to young directors with the Young Vic and Living Pictures, and has
run the Royal & Derngate Youth Theatre.