Press Releases

The Clore Leadership Programme, an initiative of the Clore Duffield Foundation to strengthen leadership across the arts, announced the Clore Leadership Fellows for 2007/8 on Tuesday 12 June 2007. The announcement was made by the Director of the Clore Leadership Programme, the Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury, and its patron, Dame Vivien Duffield, at a Conference at the British Library.  

Dame Vivien Duffield said, “Every year I’m hugely impressed by the quality of applicants for the Fellowship Programme, and this year has been no exception. These are some of the people who are going to make a real difference to the whole of the cultural sector in the years to come.  I’m proud to be able to support and encourage them.”   

The Clore Leadership Programme aims to help to train and develop outstanding leaders in the arts in the UK. Fellows have been selected annually, from the cultural sector and beyond, to undertake an individually tailored programme of tuition, research, mentoring and secondment designed to develop their leadership skills, knowledge, networks and experience.  Since September 2004, 108 cultural leaders will have been awarded Fellowships on the Clore Leadership Programme.  

The full details of the 2007/8 Fellows are as follows:  

Richard Beecham (Arts Council England-supported) Aged 33. Lives in London. Freelance Theatre Director. Trained on a Channel 4 Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme Bursary and at the National Theatre Studio. Most recently Artistic Director of the National Commemorative Event for Holocaust Memorial Day 2007. A Selector for the National Student Drama Festival.

Mike Benson (Garfield Weston Foundation-supported). Aged 46. Lives in Middlesbrough. Director of Ryedale Folk Museum. Previously Steel Worker and Shift Co-ordinator for British Steel/Corus. Governor of Hummersea Primary School and on Board of Moors and Coast Area Tourism Partnership. 

Philip Blight (Arts Council of Wales-supported) Aged 47. Lives in Caerphilly. Arts Policy Officer in Culture, Welsh Language and Sports Directorate of Welsh Assembly Government. Previously worked as a freelance artist and as a teacher. Community Councillor, Chair of the Rudry Common Trust and previously Board member of No Fit State Circus.  

Louisa Bolch (Wellcome Trust-supported) Aged 33. Lives in London.  Editor: Science for Channel 4 and Board member of Arts Council, London, adviser to Cheltenham Science Festival and Development Committee member of Arvon Foundation. Previously Programme Manager for Discovery Channel UK and Producer and Researcher for the South Bank Show, LWT.  

Tony Butler (MLA-supported - Museums) Aged 34. Lives in Benhall Green, Suffolk. Director of Museum of East Anglian Life. Governor of Abbot’s Hall Primary School, Council member of Association of Independent Museums and Board member of Stowmarket Trading Company – Social Enterprise. Previously Public Services Manager for Ipswich Museums Service, Curator of Human History for Isle of Wight Council Museums Service and Curatorial Assistant for National Postal Museum.  

Gavin Clayton (NESTA-supported - Arts and Health) Aged 41. Lives in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire. Director of Milton Keynes Arts for Health.  Previously worked nationally and internationally as an actor, Programme Development Officer and Arts & Disabilities Information Officer for Cross Border Arts and as a Care Worker for Opportunity Housing Trust supporting adults with learning disabilities in their own homes.  

Samantha Collenette (MLA-supported - Archives) Aged 33. Lives in Birmingham. Acting Head of Archives for Birmingham City Council. Previously Borough Archivist and Naughton Project Archivist for Bolton Archives, CASBAH Project Officer (Caribbean Studies, Black and Asian History) for Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, Museum Archivist at Natural History Museum and Assistant Archivist for Prudential Assurance plc.  

Lesa Dryburgh  (supported by Northwest Regional Development Agency and Culture Northwest) Aged 40. Lives in Manchester. Director of Stop The Pigeon, Communications Consultancy for the Cultural Industries including work with The Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Community Arts North West and Creative Partnerships Manchester Salford. Board member of Arts About Manchester. Previously Head of Marketing and Public Affairs for Contact, Manchester.

Robert Elkington (Clore Duffield Foundation-supported – Learning) Aged 38. Lives in Birmingham. Director of Creative Partnerships, Birmingham and regional lead for CP in the West Midlands. Vice-Chair of governing body of Percy Shurmer Primary School. Previously Teacher-Actor, General Manager and then Executive Director of The Play House (Birmingham) Ltd. 

Mary-Venetia Genis (supported by South East England Development Agency) Aged 53. Lives in Reading. Founder and Artistic Director of CultureMix Arts, a steel pan music education and carnival arts organisation. Chair of Reading Refocus Mentoring Charity and Board member of South Hill Park Arts Centre and Jelly Art Gallery.  Previously Arts Development Officer (Cultural Diversity) for Arts Council England, Arts Development Officer for Reading Borough Council and Theatre and Carnival Costume and Fashion Designer based at South Hill Park Arts Centre.  

Tom Harvey (supported by UK Film Council and Skillset) Aged 46. Lives in Morpeth, Northumberland. Chief Executive of Northern Film & Media and Board member of Culture North East, IPPR North, E-Leadership Council and Barmoor Trust. Previously Managing Director of XPT online interactive entertainment company, Manager of BBC Independent Commissioning Group, Commissions and Strategy Executive for BBC2 and Director of Edinburgh International Television Festival.    

Andy Lloyd (Clore Duffield Foundation-supported) Aged 34. Lives in Gateshead. Head of Exhibit Development at the Centre for Life, Newcastle. Previously freelance exhibitions consultant, exhibition project manager for NMSI Trading Ltd and Exhibit Developer for the Science Museum. 

François Matarasso (Creative & Cultural Skills-supported) Aged 48. Lives in Nottingham. Consultant, researcher and writer. Previously Director of East Midlands Shape and community artist.  Council member of Arts Council England and previously on Boards of Visiting Arts, Nottingham Playhouse, Unit for Arts and Offenders and NESTA.  

Caitriona McLaughlin (Arts Council of Northern Ireland-supported) Aged 35. Lives in London.  Associate Director of Education for New Peckham Varieties and General Manager of the Playground Studio, Science Communicator at Natural History Museum and freelance theatre director.  Previously ran Youth Arts Culture Network and worked as Theatre Workshop Facilitator at The Playhouse, Derry.   

Sharon Murphy (Jerome Hynes Fellowship supported by Arts Council of Ireland) Aged 43. Lives in Dublin. Arts Officer for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Former Outreach/Education Director at the Abbey Theatre and subsequently Co-ordinator of Abbey100, the programme marking the centenary of Ireland’s National Theatre.  Previously Education Officer for TEAM Educational Theatre Company and lecturer in English Literature and Drama at Froebel College of Education. 

Toby Norman-Wright (supported by Dancers’ Career Development and The Linbury Trust) Aged 35. Works freelance as workshop leader/project consultant for the Royal Ballet School’s Partnership and Access Programme and dance tutor/lecturer for Coventry University. Previously consultant/senior tutor for The Prince’s Trust – ‘Dance Live!’, freelance dance tutor/lecturer for Birmingham and Wolverhampton Universities, Dance Officer for Arts Council England and soloist, choreographer and education workshop leader for Birmingham Royal Ballet.  

Sarah Preece (Arts Council England-supported) Aged 43.  Lives in Twickenham. Until recently, Finance Director of Royal Court. Board member of Headlong Theatre Company and Turtle Key Arts. Previously General Manager of The Gate Theatre, London, Administrator of Turtle Key Arts, Administrator of Home-Start Islington and Facilities and Support Worker for East Bristol Youth Housing/Missing Link Housing Association.   

Annie Rigby (Northern Rock Foundation-supported) Aged 26. Lives in Newcastle upon Tyne. Resident Director for Northern Stage. Previously freelance drama worker for Live Theatre and Lawnmowers Independent Theatre Company. Board member of Open Clasp Theatre Company.   

Kate Scanlan (supported by Department for Culture, Media & Sport) Aged 31. Currently Director of Education, Rambert Dance Company and Assistant Director on Breakin´ Convention. Kate has recently set up her own producing and education company, Dance360, and is leaving Rambert this summer.  Previously Arts Education Animateur for Sadler’s Wells and Education Administrator for The Cholmondeleys and The Featherstonehaughs.  

Kully Thiarai (supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation -Theatre). Aged 43. Lives in Leeds. Freelance theatre director and consultant. Until recently Artistic Director of Leicester Theatre Trust and previously Artistic Advisor for Contact Theatre, Manchester, Artistic Director and CEO of Red Ladder Theatre Company and Board member of English Touring Theatre.  

Ted Townsend (Arts Council England-supported). Aged 46. Lives in London. Owner and publisher of classical music magazine, Sheet Music Review. Board member of Pegasus Opera and formerly of Writernet and Attic Theatre Company. Previously worked as Development Director for Reed Elsevier Publishing, Business Development Manager for Guiness plc (now Diageo), Corporate Strategy executive for investment bank and as management consultant. 

Nicola Triscott (NESTA-supported – Arts and Environment) Aged 43. Lives in Tonbridge, Kent. Founder and Director of The Arts Catalyst, which commissions art projects that directly engage with science and technology. Previously International Arts Officer and Drama Officer for Arts Council England, Administrative and Deputy Director of the Bull Arts Centre, Barnet, and freelance arts consultant. 

Paula Truman (MLA-supported – Libraries) Aged 50. Lives in Shipley, Yorkshire. Director of Morley Literature Festival. Previously Development Officer: Reading for City of Bradford Metropolitan Council where organised five annual book festivals, Housing Support Worker for Foundation Housing Bradford and Customer Services Officer for Leeds Federated Housing Association, Lecturer in Further Education and Manager of Travel Agency. Board member of Bradford Action for Refugees.  

Patrick Vernon (supported by Balli Group plc) Aged 46. Lives in London.  Founder and Director of Every Generation, which develops content for new media, workshops, exhibitions and publishing on black history, family geneology and heritage. Board member for East London Dance, Councillor in the London Borough of Hackney and Commissioner, GLA African and Asian Heritage Commission. Previously Strategic Adviser on Health Inequalities for Department of Health, Director of Brent Health Action Zone and Regional Director for MIND (London and South East England).  

Simon Webb (supported by Paul Lee) Aged 38. Lives in Sheffield. Works freelance, including artistic direction and business development for international concert series at Sheffield City Hall, Arts Council Orchestral Development Co-ordinator for Yorkshire and Humberside and Manager for Dante Quartet. Board member of Manchester Camerata. Previously Administrative Director of Music in the Round and Cellist and Chairman of Board of Directors for London Philharmonic Orchestra.   

Jenny Williams (Arts Council England-supported – Powerbrokers) Aged 35. Lives in Hove, Sussex. Director of Take the Space Arts Consultancy and Co-Director of Politicart. Previously Cultural Diversity Officer and Head of Diversity for Arts Council England, Arts Development Officer for Mid Sussex District Council and Wandsworth Borough Councils and Education Director for The Tricycle. 

William Wong (Arts Council England-supported) Aged 44. Lives in London. Theatre Director and Performer, including productions at National Museum of Scotland, Battersea Power Station for Serpentine Gallery, Battersea Arts Centre and Contact Theatre Manchester. Previously worked as management consultant in India and The Philippines; research analyst, and Client Service Manager for a marketing services consultancy in Hong Kong. William is fluent in Chinese and gained his MBA from Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London.

Stephen Wrentmore  (Clore Duffield Foundation-supported) Aged 37. Lives in St Andrews, Fife. Theatre producer, director and lecturer. Until recently, Artistic Director of the Byre Theatre. Previously Staff Director at National Theatre. International work has included productions in Moscow, Arizona and Belgrade.   

Sheena Wrigley (supported by Yorkshire Culture and Yorkshire Forward) Aged 46. Lives in Burley in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire. Head of Theatres, Arts and Festivals, Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Previously Chief Executive of Harrogate Theatre, Theatre Officer for Southern Arts (Arts Council England), Administrative Director for ESTC in Winnipeg and General Manager of Temba Theatre Company. Board member of Audiences Yorkshire and European Mela Network.  

The major funding partners for the Programme include the Clore Duffield Foundation, Arts Council England, Arts Council of Ireland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Balli Group plc, Creative & Cultural Skills, Dancers’ Career Development, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the Linbury Trust, MLA (the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council), The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), Northern Rock Foundation, Northwest Regional Development Agency and Culture Northwest, Paul Lee, Skillset, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), the UK Film Council, the Wellcome Trust, Yorkshire Culture and Yorkshire Forward. Direct associated costs, including tuition fees, are met by the Programme.