Irons, Jennifer
Jennifer Irons is a multi-award-winning dance artist who works internationally in
theatre, film, large-scale site-specific and arts for social development projects. Her
work celebrates inclusivity in dance in all its forms and explores who and what it is
for. She regularly collaborates with a diverse range of people and is currently
Associate Artist with dancedigital, East London Dance and Candoco Dance
Company. She has an extensive teaching practice and has been a guest artist at
several higher education institutions worldwide including Royal College of Music,
University of Hawaii and Makerere University in Kampala; Uganda. Jennifer is CoArtistic Director of dance and technology company makeAMPLIFY with audiovisual artist Zach Walker. She is Director of arts and cultural exchange program
ironINC in Africa and has recently received the Artists’ International Development
Fund for her work with EECDS in Egypt.
Jackson, Paul
Paul Jackson trained in dance and music and has worked internationally in both
areas. He is currently Reader in Choreography and Dance at the University of
Winchester. Before this, he was Head of Music and Dance at Northumbria
University, having worked previously at the Arts Educational Schools, Islington
Arts Factory, Central School of Ballet and the CFPD in Poitiers, France.
Throughout the 1980s Paul was a member of the education teams of London
Contemporary Dance Theatre, Extemporary Dance Theatre and Ballet Rambert.
He has written extensively on dance and music and in 1997 was awarded the
Chris de Marigny Dance Writers. Paul is the author of The Life and Music of Sir
Malcolm Arnold: The Brilliant and the Dark and The Last Guru: Robert Cohan’s
Life in Dance from Martha Graham to London Contemporary Dance Theatre. He is
currently working on a book on British ballet music.
Jalland, Stephanie
Stephanie Jalland has been Artistic Director of Hoodwink, company in residence at
Salisbury Arts Centre, since co founding the company in 1997. During that time
Stephanie has created original theatre and performance events for indoors,
outdoors and site specific locations and toured extensively nationally and
internationally. Hoodwink’s work encompasses major commissions by venues,
international festivals, libraries, National Trust, museums, local authorities and
projects in hospital, care home and community settings. Stephanie is committed to
creating high quality experiences whose form is determined by the subject matter,
context and setting rather than a pre-determined form. This means the work is
accessible to audiences across the age range who may not normally partake in
arts activities as well as already engaged audiences.
Jancovich, Leila
Leila is a Senior Lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University and coordinator for the
knowledge exchange network on participation and engagement in the arts, which
is also her main research focus. She has recently completed a phd on
participation policy and has published extensively on the subject. Previously Leila
worked for 20 years in the arts sector as a producer, researcher and policy maker
in theatre, during which time she reviewed an average of four productions a week.
She has worked for the Arts Council in the London and Yorkshire offices and was
an assessor in the Eastern region. She is also currently on the national evaluation
steering committee of the Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places
Fund and a critical friend to Doncaster’s Creative People and places programme.
Jefferies, Lucy
Lucy studied film at Queen Mary University and started her career working for
Encounters Short Film Festivals in Bristol. Since then she has worked extensively
for local authority arts teams in Brighton & Hove and London specialising in
developing and producing participatory work and creative programmes for children
and families. She programmed Brighton & Hove Children’s Festival for 6 years
and has developed many participatory Public Art projects. She has also worked
as an independent producer and curator for organisations across the UK including
a yearlong secondment as Visual Arts Participation Producer for Southbank
Centre. My current interest is in the power of collections, archives and everyday
objects and how those can be more accessible and engaging and used to tell
universal stories.
Johnson, Judith
Judith has been writing plays and teaching Creative Writing for over 25 years. She
has taught and been produced in diverse venues, from the Royal National Theatre
to young offender’s institutes. Judith is an Advisory Board member and writer for
Y-Touring Theatre Company, which produces plays and educational programmes
exploring issues of health and science. She is also patron and writer for Razed
Roof Inclusive Theatre Company, which works with people with severe learning
difficulties alongside ‘mainstream’ teenagers. Judith has advised a number of
companies and writers over the years on issues of new writing, including Arcola
Theatre and Y-Touring. She has written two musicals with composer Karl
Lewkowicz. Judith has a particular interest in the process of developing new
musicals and in young people’s theatre. She was a Royal Literary Fund (RLF)
Writing Fellow 2007-2011 and commences her new role of RLF Reading Round
Lector from September 2014. Judith is Creative Writing Tutor for Idea Stores,
Tower Hamlets.
Jones, Samantha
Samantha Jones has worked in the participatory arts field for twenty years as an
actor, theatre maker, director and arts manager. Her current role is Head of
Programme for Helix Arts, a participatory arts organisation based in the North
East. Samantha’s experience includes designing, managing, delivering and
evaluating a range of participatory arts programmes for a range of disadvantaged
groups from young people at risk to adults with complex needs. As both art creator
and art manager, she has first-hand experience of challenges, needs and
requirements of artists, participants and partner organisations to make high quality
participatory art. Samantha has a BA (Hons) in Drama from Exeter University
(1996) and has trained in Theatre of the Oppressed techniques, particularly within
arts and mental health settings. She was mentored in the early stages of her
career by Ali Campbell, founder of Breakout T.I.E and Reader in Applied
Performance Queen Mary, University of London.
Jones, Penny
Penny Jones is a visual arts and education specialist with extensive experience in
galleries, museums and healthcare sites, working in the formal and informal
learning sectors with people of all ages and abilities. As Programme Director of
Watch this Space (2004–11) Penny worked with galleries across England to
embed learning about contemporary art in the school curriculum, and to support
the professional development of early career artists and gallery educators. Penny’s
commissions in arts in health include photography with Steve Pyke and
participatory projects with Grennan and Sperandio and Anna Dumitriu. She has
special expertise in the history of craft and contemporary craft practice. In 2013
she evaluated the Crafts Council's England-wide flagship programme Firing Up
which supported the development of ceramics in schools. She has co-ordinated
the NSEAD's Skills in the Making crafts professional development programme for
teachers since 2011. Penny has edited and coordinated publications for engage
and has contributed articles to the arts and education press.
Jones, Susan
Susan Jones is Director of a-n The Artists Information Company until September
2014. She is a researcher, published writer and expert contributor on the ecology
of the contemporary visual arts and on artists’ matters. Her annual studies of the
changing face of artists’ employment are published on www.a-n.co.uk. Lectures
and provocations include where is the place for art? (Engage conference 2011
also published by The Guardian), Nobody wants you but everyone needs you’
(Open College of the Arts Fine Art MA), Are there too many artists? (Market
Projects), Who needs them? (Café Culture Newcastle), what are artists for? (City
University MA in Cultural Policy and Management), what are artists really worth?
(National Photography Symposium 2013, published by The Guardian) and Valuing
artists – issues and practices (Co Producing Cultural Value, Warwick University
2014). She has contributed to the Art Party Conference, the Cultural Values
initiative and presented evidence through international peer networks including
CreativeClusters, Paradox, Interartes, CreativePeople and N-Ten.
Kaplinsky, Helen
Helen Kaplinsky is an independent curator based in London, specialising in public
collections and commissioning emerging artists. Collections work includes as EastCoast Fellow with the Contemporary Art Society producing an exhibition at the
Whitechapel Gallery in 2013 and Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in 2014.
Working with the Arts Council Collection she curated ‘Image as Witness’ for the
European Commission (2013, London) and ‘British Modern Remade’ at Park Hill
Estate (2012, Sheffield). She has showcased emerged artists internationally
including ’Self-Interruption’ at Jack Chiles Gallery (2013, NYC), ‘When Platitudes
Become Form’ public programme at Mercer Union (2013, Toronto), ‘I Did It My
Way Way’ (2011, Ceiling Space, China), ‘Thrall’dom’ at LIMAZULU and ‘Auto
Couture’ at a bespoke automotive showroom (both London 2012). She lectures in
Art and Design history at the City Literacy Institute (London) and is currently cocurating a set of residencies based at Islington Mill (Salford, UK).
Kell, Emmie
Emmie is a freelance museums consultant who has worked in museums, art
galleries and science centres for the last 20 years. She was previously Head of
Education at Somerset House, Public Programmes Manager at MOSI, Manchester
and Learning and Communications Director at Thinktank, Birmingham Science
Museum (2003-2007). She has a proven track record in fundraising and business
planning in the cultural sector. She specialises in strategic planning to promote
sustainability and resilience. She delivers successful interpretation, learning and
audience development strategies for museums, heritage sites and cultural
organisations. She has previously been on the Board of the South Western
Federation of Museums and Art Galleries and is a member of the Institute of
Fundraising and a Fellow of the RSA.
Keys, Geof
Geof Keys is Artistic Director of Queen’s Hall Arts, based at the arts centre in
Hexham. He has over 30 years’ experience of touring and building-based work,
including stints with Orchard Theatre Company, The Stephen Joseph Theatre,
Chipping Norton Theatre and Wildcat Stage Productions. Recent directing credits
include Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night and Aesop’s Fables for Mad Alice
TC, Stuff and Bottling It for the Bite Size Theatre Programme, and the dance/visual
arts collaboration Talking Without Words. As well as his specialisation in drama,
Geof has a keen interest in dance – commissioning residencies at the Queen’s
Hall, monitoring for Arts Council England (1999 to 2002) and researching
international work under the DanceXchange programme. Geof is currently leading
a number of county-wide developments in Northumberland, including youth dance,
small-scale drama and mobile cinema.
Khan, Yasmin
Yasmin Khan is an independent cultural advisor, curator, producer and freelance
writer. Her multi-disciplinary work practice stems from a deep interest in the
cultural intersections of science, art and identity. She originally trained as a bioscientist and has a Master’s degree in Science and Culture from Birkbeck College,
London. Previously she was Interpretation Manager at the British Library and the
Curator Team Manager at the Science Museum. In 2011 Yasmin was awarded the
Wellcome Trust Creative Fellowship on the Clore Cultural Leadership Programme.
In 2012, Yasmin worked with the Mayor of London's culture team during her
secondment to Big Dance which formed a central part of the London 2012
Festival. Yasmin is the founder of Sindbad SciFi: Re-imagining Arab Science
Fiction which is an evolving creative movement initiated in partnership with the
Nour Festival of Arts. Her research interests include gender mainstreaming,
cultural diplomacy and soft power. She is a blogger for the Guardian Culture
Professional Network and exhibition reviewer for the Museums Journal.
Kiernan, Anna
Anna Kiernan is a partner at Thread, a training and creative agency
(www.wearethread.com). Anna is also a Senior Lecturer in Writing at Falmouth
University. Previously, she was Course Leader of the MA in Publishing at Kingston
University. She is a writer and editor with research expertise in contemporary
publishing and reading practices, life writing and arts journalism. Anna has worked
as an editor at publishers such as André Deutsch and Simon & Schuster. Her
publications include the anti-war anthology Voices for Peace (Scribner 2001) and
Bit on the Side: Work, Sex, Love, Loss and Own Goals (Parthian 2007), as well a
book about literary drinkers. She has also contributed to academic books and
journals and to publications such as The Guardian and The Times Literary
Supplement. Anna was a co-investigator on the AHRC-funded oral history project
Museum Lives at the Natural History Museum. She is a National Advisor at Arts
Council Wales and her first poetry chapbook, Pick Me Up, will be published by
Atlantic Press this year.
Kleiman, Gillie
Gillie Kleiman is an artist. From Gillie’s practice of dance and choreography
emerge artworks that manifest as performances, texts, and events, presented in
contexts associated with dance, theatre, live art and experimental performance,
throughout the UK and across Europe. She received a first class BA (Hons) from
the University of Surrey, was a recipient of the 2008 and 2013 danceWEB
scholarships, and held an AHRC studentship to undertake an MA in Performance
and Creative Research at Roehampton University, which she completed with
distinction in 2011. Gillie is one of eight artists who run BELLYFLOP Magazine,
and is Projects Producer at Chisenhale Dance Space. She has worked in a range
of education and community contexts for more than a decade, and moonlights as
an Artistic Assessor for Arts Council England. She is currently supported by
Artsadmin’s Artists’ Bursary Scheme.
Laird, Kate
Kate is a freelance producer specialising in combined arts and theatre. She is
founding Creative Producer with site specific digital artists ‘Shared Space and
Light’, who believe that every building has a story to tell and so seek to reveal
these hidden narratives through unique site specific projection events using a
combination of moving image, sound and light. She has produced events across
the country with Shared Space and Light collaborating with Wild Works, The World
Famous and Zap Arts as well as the companies own commissioned work. Kate is
also Co- Producer of Copperdollar, an immersive theatre company who place the
audience at the core of their work. They explore the possibilities of art and
technology within a theatrical setting. Copperdollar’s work has toured extensively
in the UK to Festivals including Glastonbury, National Theatre ‘Watch this space’
festival and venues such as The Spiegeltent and TOM – The Old Market. Kate has
worked at regional and national level within Combined Arts and Theatre for Arts
Council England. Following five active years on the Board of Brighton Carnival
Association, programming and assisting with the running of the carnival, she has
recently joined the board of Directors of Mandinga Arts.
Lane, David
David has been developing plays in a wide variety of contexts since 2002 as
dramaturg, writer, and associate tutor at Goldsmiths College and Exeter
University. He has delivered numerous workshops and writer development
programmes for regional venues, worked as a reader for West End and subsidised
London theatres and was previously the Literary Assistant at Soho Theatre. He
has worked as dramaturg with award-winning devising companies including Fine
Chisel, Dirty Market and multi-story and with rural touring producer Beaford Arts;
as a writer he has been commissioned by Half Moon, Theatre Royal Plymouth and
The Egg to create work for teenage audiences and young companies, and was
commissioned in 2013 by Engage at Theatre Royal Bath, Chichester Festival
Theatre and the British School of Beijing. He is author of the book Contemporary
British Drama and has written published articles exploring dramaturgy and new
play development in the UK.
Lane, Hilary
Hilary Lane an independent curator and writer. As a senior Arts Officer at Arts
Council England she worked with galleries and artist-led organisations nationally.
Hilary has devised and selected a number of exhibitions based on the Arts Council
and other public collections and has worked as a gallery director and writer on the
visual arts. Hilary was the Cultural Strategy Manager for a county authority putting
particular emphasis on and supporting gallery development. She has a specialised
knowledge of 20th century constructivist art. Currently researching the role of
childhood obsessions in the development of artist’s practice.
Lawston, Victoria
I have always had a love of history from school and have visited museums,
galleries and historic houses since I was a child. I have a degree in Modern History
and Politics from the Cardiff University and MA in Heritage Management from the
University of Birmingham. I currently work in the library and archive Reading Room
at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust where I have been working for 4 years. I
enjoy meeting people who are looking into their family history, researching
Shakespeare or studying theatre studies and the way that productions are put
together. My work is varied and no two days are the same. I have previously
completed an internship at the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere where I worked on
exhibitions, in the archive, on front of house and delivering tours of Dove Cottage.
My interests include theatre, music, photography and painting.
Law, Peter
Peter Law is producer who works with technology and people to create interactive
and playful experiences. He has worked on a series of award-winning games with
Hide&Seek and Somethin' Else, including Papa Sangre and the latest versions of
Tate Trumps, and he designed and facilitated games for Hide&Seek's Sandpit live
games events. Currently he works at the advertising agency adam&eveDDB and is
a member of the board of the Live Art Development Agency. Peter has also
worked with Mother London, Tate Kids, Artangel, Coney, ITV, BBC, Samsung,
Royal Opera House, kin Design, National Maritime Museum, Random House and
Art of Digital London, and is games editor of digital publishing website
TheLiteraryPlaform. In the past he has organised literary events and made
programmes for BBC Radio 4.
Lee, Richard
Richard trained in Drama at Bretton Hall and subsequently taught in schools and
the Open University. He led the Outreach Department of the Towngate Theatre
before moving on to run the Holborn Centre for the Performing Arts and its Link
Theatre. After a spell as the Essex County Council Arts Officer, he was appointed
Director of Jerwood Space, a unique theatre/dance rehearsal facility with
contemporary art gallery, where he has worked since 1998, supporting and
advising a wide variety of theatre, dance and visual art practitioners. Richard has
been a trustee of essexdance, Pan Intercultural Arts and is currently a trustee and
Chair of Stagetext, responsible for captioning technologies and enhancing the
theatre experience.
Lewis-Crosby, Antony
Antony Lewis-Crosby recently retired as Managing Director of the London Mozart
Players, having previously been Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Society and Arts Director of the Barbican Centre. Antony began his
career as a concert agent and Deputy Entertainments Manager of Greenwich. He
has acted as consultant to the BBC, Royal Albert Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields
Church, The Royal Society, RTE in Dublin and the Association of British Concert
Halls. He was a board member of the Association of British Orchestras and
recently chaired its Chamber Orchestras group. Currently, Antony is General
Manager of St Luke’s Music Society, Project Manager of the Festival Chorus and
Chairman of the Taylor Art Trust for the Visual Arts in Dublin. Antony’s artistic
interests are broad and, beyond music, considers theatre, the visual arts and
cinema important to him. He is particularly interested in the development of artistic
life in small and disadvantaged communities.
Little, Henry
Henry Little is Chief Executive of Orchestras Live, the development agency for
professional orchestral music in England. He has worked extensively in opera,
initially as a freelance director with the English National Opera, Royal Opera,
Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Tour and Opera 80. Henry was General
Manager of British Youth Opera and worked as an Artist Manager with the Athole
Still International Artists Management. Between 1998 and 2008, he worked at Arts
Council in a variety of roles: Touring Officer for Opera and Music, Head of Opera
and Music Theatre and Interim Director of Music Strategy, leading the Council’s
2009–12 investment strategy for music. Henry is Chairman of the National Opera
Co-ordinating Committee, has worked as an adviser on opera strategy for the Arts
Council of Ireland and is a regular collaborator with Opera Europa, the industry
body for European opera for whom he has given speeches and written several
articles.
Lockwood, David
David is a theatre director. After three years at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter,
David graduated as an actor and director. He worked for touring companies Dorset
Corset, Angel Exit and Jaybird, developing and performing in classical
adaptations, physical theatre and live literature. Having worked as an assistant
director at Basingstoke Haymarket on The Borrowers and as an associate director
in Israel and the West Bank on La Boheme, David returned to Exeter to set up
Particular Theatre Company, an organisation dedicated to producing new writing in
the South West. This in turn led to the creation of The Bike Shed Theatre which
opened in 2010. Since then, David has directed new plays The Distance, Still,
Beanfield (also Tobacco Factory, Bristol), Bunnies (also Salisbury Playhouse,
Tobacco Factory, New Diorama Theatre), Circus Britannica (also Theatre 503),
Playing with Snails - all for The Bike Shed Theatre. He has also directed
adaptations of The Magic Flute and A Christmas Carol, and The Dumb Waiter. For
Bristol’s Theatre West, he has directed new plays Items of Value and Nets. David
created and leads on Ignite, Exeter’s festival of theatre, and sits on the steering
groups of Animated Exeter, Exetreme Imagination and the Laugh Out Loud
festival. In 2014, he began a Clore Leadership Fellowship.
Lord, Frances
Frances Lord is a freelance consultant based in East Sussex whose specialism is
in the visual arts and crafts. Frances works with local government, architects,
developers, environmental agencies, and directly with artists and arts
organisations initiating, developing and managing arts and cultural projects. She
has a successful track record in curating, commissioning, policy and strategy
development, training, mentoring, evaluation and fundraising. Recent projects
include ‘Elizabethan mansion to Edwardian horticultural splendor’, a Cultural
Strategy for Borde Hill Garden, East Sussex, 2014 and Makers as Trainers and
Employers: Craft Apprenticeships & Internships Research Project and Training,
with partner Making Space, Havant.