Brave Decisions – what it takes to make change. Meet the 2023/24 Clore Fellows
Clore Leadership is delighted to welcome the 2023/24 Clore Fellows as they embark on the Clore Fellowship Programme this autumn.
The highly valued Clore Fellowships are awarded to dynamic change-makers from across the arts and culture sector who demonstrate vision, strategy and an appetite or collaboration in leading the arts, culture and creativity for a positive impact on society.
This nineteenth cohort of Clore Fellows (#Clore19) includes 23 leaders from the breadth of the arts and cultural sector, covering at least ten cultural disciplines, and include independent practitioners, those working in small and medium scale arts venues, as well as representatives from our largest cultural institutions.
Collectively, they reflect the vibrant and diverse nature of the arts and cultural sector, coming from eight regions across the UK, from Falmouth to the Isle of Mull, as well as Ireland, Brazil and Hong Kong.
The highly competitive recruitment process opened a window onto the key issues and challenges faced by cultural leaders today, with applicants highlighting wellbeing, mental health, care and fairness as key priorities, and many demonstrating themselves as leaders who are ready to embrace brave decisions to make that change. Collaboration and community was placed at the heart of many endeavours, with applicants often working across disciplines, with different communities and underrepresented groups to tackle existing challenges from a number of different angles.
As today’s leaders face an increasingly complex cultural landscape, with a range of external pressures – from the cost of living crises to fierce competition for funding sources – strong leadership has never been more important. The Fellowship is designed to equip cultural leaders with the mindset and skills they need to navigate these circumstances and thrive.
Clore Leadership believes that for society to flourish, it needs great culture, and great culture needs great leaders. So this long-standing investment in sector leaders underscores our ambition to support and sustain a resilient and thriving arts and cultural sector.
Moira Sinclair, Chair of Clore Leadership, Chief Executive, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and herself a #Clore1 Fellow, welcomed the Fellows:
“In today’s ever-evolving cultural landscape, it’s never been more important to have strong and dynamic leaders. The Clore Fellowship is a hugely important programme, which empowers and invests in leaders, giving you a unique opportunity to hone the skills, competences and perspectives needed to face these challenges. I can’t wait to see the passion, dynamism and energy I know you will bring to this year’s Fellowship and wish you well as you embark on a journey of learning and leading.”
Clore Leadership is hugely grateful to the many strategic partners who have joined us in driving excellence and innovation in the leadership of culture. Our major funding partners are the Clore Duffield Foundation which initiated the programme in 2003 and Arts Council England, which funds the Fellowship and a range of other Clore Leadership programmes. In 2023 we are delighted that the Fellowship Programme also receives support from: a-n The Artists Information Company; Arts Council Ireland; the Arts and Humanities Research Council; Chevening Secretariat through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Creative Scotland; Dancers’ Career Development; Esmée Fairbairn Foundation; the Gatsby Charitable Foundation; the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region through Hong Kong Arts Development Council; The Linbury Trust; National Lottery Heritage Fund; and National Trust.
The 2023/24 Fellows are:
Arts Council Ireland Fellowship
The Arts Council Ireland Fellowship is supported by Arts Council Ireland
Alan James Burns
AlanJames Burns is an artist, curator and producer creating interactive, socially engaged and site-specific projects reflecting on subjects of disability, well-being and the climate emergency. These highly collaborative projects include ‘Augmented Body, Altered Mind’ 2022, ‘The Waking Walls | Caoineadh Dúlra’ 2023 and ‘Entirely hollow aside from the dark’ 2016-2019.
Burns is co-directing and co-producing ‘Disrupt Disability Arts Festival’ launching online and across Dublin in March 2024 and their projects have been funded by Arts Council of Ireland, Arts and Disability Ireland, Arts Council England, European Commission, Cavan Arts, Fingal Arts, Culture Ireland and Creative Ireland.
Creative Scotland Fellowship
The Creative Scotland Fellowship is supported by Creative Scotland
Rebecca Atkinson-Lord
Rebecca Atkinson-Lord is Artistic Director and Chief Executive at An Tobar and Mull Theatre, a multi-artform creative hub on the Hebridean island of Mull.
In 2008, she founded Arch 468, a theatre production and development hub dedicated to transforming the theatre landscape and from 2010 – 2016 she was Director of Theatre at Ovalhouse (now Brixton House) in London.
Rebecca is also an award-winning director and writer for theatre and film. She works across a wide range of performance genres and has directed extensively across the UK and internationally.
Cultural Learning Fellowship
The Cultural Learning Fellowship is supported by the Clore Duffield Foundation
Jessica Vaughan
Jessica Vaughan is a curator and producer whose work focuses on placing contemporary art in the public realm. Her expanded practice intersects art, education, and social action, and holds collaboration, site specificity and audience access at its core.
As Senior Curator of Art on the Underground, Transport for London’s contemporary art programme, she oversees the commissioning of artworks experienced by millions every day. Recent projects include major installations by leading artists, Monster Chetwynd, Helen Cammock and Heather Phillipson. In 2018, she initiated and currently leads on the Brixton Mural programme, a series of commissions at Brixton Underground station.
Previously she worked for several of London’s leading arts organisations, including Studio Voltaire, Tate Modern, The Showroom and Serpentine Gallery. She studied at Goldsmiths and the Royal College of Art.
Andrew Westle
Andrew is the National Programme Manager for The Agency at Battersea Arts Centre. Before this, he worked as Engagement Manager (co-creation) for Manchester International Festival. His work defies neat boundaries to include research, socially engaged arts practice, performance, evaluation, writing, and public health.
Originating from Australia, Andrew has lived in the UK for 5 years and has worked with a diverse range of organisations including All The Queens Men, Australian Ballet, University of New South Wales & Manchester Craft and Design Centre. He created popular podcast and web-platform, Delving into Dance, with an international audience of 40,000+.
Andrew holds a PhD and a Masters of Fine Arts (Cultural Leadership) as part of the Inaugural Cohort at National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA). He has also written a leading report into gender equality in Australian dance.
Dance Fellowship
The Dance Fellowship supported by Dancers’ Career Development and The Linbury Trust
Charlotte Edmonds
Driven by a passion for storytelling through movement, Charlotte Edmonds is a British choreographer, dancer and filmmaker whose work honours classical and contemporary dance. Having trained at The Royal Ballet Lower School, Rambert School and with a Masters in Choreography from Central School of Ballet, Charlotte has a prestigious academic background.
Charlotte became the Royal Ballet’s Inaugural Young Choreographer, demonstrating an innate ability to explore social and emotional perspectives through dance. Charlotte has created classical and contemporary choreographies for respected dance institutions including The Royal Ballet, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Northern Ballet, The Royal Academy of Dance, Dutch National Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet and Studio Wayne McGregor. She has also worked with organisations including Sotheby’s, Soho House, Nike, Burberry, and BBC Arts.
Kate Mackonochie
Kate Mackonochie is Director of Producing at Factory International, the organisation behind both Manchester International Festival, and Aviva Studios, the landmark new cultural space opening this year in the heart of Manchester, creating a global destination for arts music and culture.
Kate oversees the producing of the year-round programme of work at Aviva Studios, online and internationally, alongside the biennial Manchester International Festival, inviting the most exciting artists to create bold, ambitious new work.
Excellerate Fellowships
The Excellerate Fellowship is supported by Arts Council England, the Clore Duffield Foundation and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
Makeda McMillan
Makeda McMillan was appointed Managing Director of music charity, Small Green Shoots in 2022 after starting there as its first young apprentice age 15. Passionate about the cultural sector and coming from humble beginnings herself, Makeda is an advocate of making the Creative Industry more inclusive and diverse.
She founded her own youth led arts organization – MakedaMakes, in 2019. MakedaMakes works with underrepresented young people from diverse backgrounds and has delivered Arts award qualifications to over 60 young people, contributed to over 100 talented young people’s accreditation, and led creative projects funded by organisations including Arts Council for England, Children In Need and Comic Relief.
She sits on the governance boards for Leicester Based arts organisation Opal Arts, Big Creative Education in Walthamstow and Music Education Islington.
Molly Nicholson
Molly Nicholson is both an independent producer & executive producer for &Friends LTD.
As an independent producer she has worked across queer theatre, socially activist art & circus arts sectors since 2010 – particularly programming and leading delivery of large sale CircusFest for Roundhouse London.
In 2018 Molly founded Scottee & Friends LTD (now renamed to &Friends) originally with artist Scottee & Friends work is political, provocative and participant led.
As Executive producer Molly lead the company through all creative & company development including becoming a recipient of Paul Hamlyns Breakthrough award, being awarded Elevate (Arts Council England) as well as leading the company through Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisation process.
Deanna Rodger
Deanna Rodger is a former UK Poetry Slam Champion who has performed and facilitated extensively around the world. She has worked with brands and organisations including FIFA, Disney, St Paul’s Cathedral, Amnesty International, Keats’ House, Young Vic, and Adidas and her reimagined ‘If’ was read by Serena Williams for BBC Sport International Women’s Day 2021. Publications include ‘I Did It Too’ and ‘his fingers have left’ a poetry and process collection. Deanna is a Pervasive Media Studio resident working with creative technology and poetry and trustee of Easton Children’s Community Centre. Building on the success of the Creative Facilitation Training program she created and facilitates at Roundhouse London, Deanna received ACE and NLUK grant funding to develop an online training resource and program called Who Knows Poetry.
Heritage Fellowship
The Heritage Fellowship is supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund
Laura Crossley
Originally from Salford, Laura Crossley is a freelance consultant with over a decade of experience working with museums and arts organisations across the UK. She specialises in strategic planning, visioning, audience development, interpretation, and evaluation. Her passion for community participation in heritage has led her to create and manage several multi-site community heritage festivals. She is also an experienced trainer and has spoken at international museum conferences. Laura is particularly interested in workforce wellbeing and how to create organisations that support staff to thrive.
Laura has held in-house leadership roles at organisations including the National Football Museum and Oxford University Museums. She has a PhD in Museum Studies, which explores the factors that support sustainable community engagement practice to be embedded in museums.
Matthew Rabagliati
Matthew Rabagliati is the Head of Policy, Research and Communications at the UK National Commission for UNESCO. He supports the coordination of the UK Government’s policy positions at UNESCO and implementing its programmes in education, science, culture, communication, and information, under the aegis of the UK’s Ambassador to UNESCO and the HMG Senior Responsible Officer.
An Archaeologist by training, with an MA in international relations, economics and diplomacy, he was previously the Senior Parliamentary Advisor at Historic England and Policy and Communications Manager at The Heritage Alliance.
Jerome Hynes Fellowship
The Jerome Hynes Fellowship is supported by Arts Council Ireland
Louise White
Louise White is an independent theatre and performance maker celebrating 15 years’ practice. Her work asks questions about community and the contemporary moment.
Recent work includes Animals; a large-scale work based on Orwell’s Animal Farm (Dublin Theatre Festival), and Sing Your Failures; a participatory performance about failure (Cork Midsummer Festival).
Her projects are always interdisciplinary and collaborative. She has worked with a diverse array of performers including dancers, opera singers, visual artists, chefs, composers, actors, children and older people. Louise is also a facilitator and educator and leads creative engagements with communities and groups in a variety of contexts.
The National Trust Fellowship is supported by the National Trust
Fiona Bridges
Fiona Bridges is Manager of Kedleston Hall, an 18th century Show Palace and Pleasure Ground designed to inspire creativity and to celebrate art, architecture, and world cultures.
Fiona is passionate about the role historic houses and collections can play in creating more equitable historic narratives and futures. She is working with her team and partners to achieve this through co-creation, creative programming, and re-display.
Fiona’s leadership journey has spanned from youth and community work, through visitor experience consultancy and master planning (for National Trust and Woodland Trust) to overseeing the strategic direction and operations at Kedleston Hall today.
Theatre Fellowship
The Theatre Fellowship is supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Joyce Nga Yu Lee
“Ambitious, original and delightfully weird” The Telegraph
Joyce Nga Yu Lee is a Hong Konger in the UK who has been making and touring work internationally for 20 years. Joyce was trained as a theatre maker in the University of Leeds and the National Theatre Directors’ Programme. Her practice focuses on creating original and contemporary performance projects that impact social change. Her work ranges from intimate theatre pieces to large-scale outdoor spectacles, often multi-disciplinary and underpinned by collaborative research involving communities, artists, and academics.
Joyce is Artistic Director of Mind the Gap, England’s premier learning disability performance and arts company.
Katie Villa
Katie Villa is a Devon based freelance Theatre Director, performer, theatre maker and audiobook narrator. She is the Artistic Director of Quirk Theatre, an Exeter based theatre company with big ideas, who have been creating socially conscious shows for children and families for over 20 years.
In her work, Katie aims to create joyful arts experiences that can explore difficult subjects and big feelings, with laughter, community and humanity at the heart. Katie loves to hold creative space for others, is happiest swimming in the sea or paddling a Devon river and is also a parent to two children.
Transform Fellowships
The Transform Fellowship is supported by Arts Council England.
Jay Bhadricha
Jay Bhadricha is passionate about creative expression. As Head of Programmes at Forward Arts Foundation, the organisation responsible for National Poetry Day and the Forward Prizes for Poetry, he champions inclusion and collaboration to connect diverse audiences with the power of poetry. In 2023, he was on the judging panel for the CLiPPA Poetry Award (the only award solely presented for published poetry for children in the UK) alongside Chris Riddell, Valerie Bloom, Indigo Williams and Charlotte Hacking. And previously he was Editorial and Content Manager at First Story, overseeing the publication of all their young people’s anthologies, after having been a beneficiary of the charity in its first cohort.
Jay loves culture in all its forms, and he doesn’t really know what he’d talk about if he didn’t have books, films, music and games. He is also a proud parent to an incredibly active two year old.
Carolyn ML Forsyth
Carolyn Forsyth’s 17-year track record of success demonstrates her dynamism as a detail focused producer and arts manager gained in senior roles within theatre, young people’s work, outdoor site-specific shows, international touring and festivals.
She has co-produced with leading regional venues and independent production companies and led UK and international presentations from Dance Umbrella, Lokal, Campo, Spring, and Spieltart festivals.
Carolyn is a passionate advocate for racial and social justice. She is currently Executive Director and Joint CEO of Talawa Theatre Company, the UK’s outstanding Black theatre company and a co-opted member of UK Theatre Board.
John R. Wilkinson
John Wilkinson is a multi-award-winning director and dramaturg. He directed the world premiere of Mugabe, My Dad & Me by Tonderai Munyevu, which won Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards 2022.
He was also the tenth recipient of the Genesis Future Directors Award at the Young Vic.
John is Associate Director at York Theatre Royal. He is a trustee of Stephen Joseph Theatre, Middle Child, Pilot Theatre, and Stage Directors UK.
Visual Arts Fellowship
The Visual Arts Fellowship is supported by a-n The Artists Information Company
Sovay Berriman
Sovay Berriman builds artworks that manifest out of multiple elements. Through installation, text/audio, moving image, drawing and sculpture, fragments work together to create a whole supportive structure and shared story.
Sovay uses visual art as a strategy and prompt for action and discussion, often inviting contributors and participants into the work and situations she creates.
The Hong Kong Fellowship is supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Lo Wan-Ki
Lo Wan Ki is an independent transdisciplinary artist and curator based in Hong Kong. She is currently lecturer of the Art and Design Department, the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong.
Trained in architecture (HKU), theatre set design (Yale) and creative media (CityU), her creative work as well as curatorial practice is always with unique spatial strategies in response to the site’s cultural and social context. She is one of the founding members of Emptyscape, curating one of the early art festivals in the rural area of Hong Kong. She continues seeking the new ground for different disciplines to co-create alternatives.
Vicky Fung
An artist with multi-faceted experience along her journey as songwriter, lyricist, singer-songwriter, founder of live house and music label, and an active producer and curator, Vicky Fung has always endeavoured to promote Hong Kong’s music culture.
Vicky believes that the power and value of music lies beyond the limits set by art or commerce. In 2018, Vicky co-founded “Every Life is A Song” with a vision to support young creative generation and address social concerns through social music entrepreneurship.
Vicky wishes to explore further in the areas of community art and socially-engaged participatory art, and the frontiers of multi-media and arts-tech oriented performances.
Chevening Fellowships
Chevening Fellowships are supported by the Chevening Secretariat at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Chevening offers individuals who show potential to inspire, inform, and influence positive change the opportunity to study at a UK university or organisation.
Liliane Rebelo
Liliane Rebelo is Executive Director of Culture and Society at Cultura Inglesa, leading on an annual major multidisciplinary festival approaching its 27th edition and a portifolio of social projects involving more than 30 NGO’s.
Liliane has a degree in Journalism and specialisations in Marketing and Cultural Project Management. She was Arts Manager at British Council Brazil (2010-2018) managing cultural links between Brazil and the UK. While in Scotland, she worked for Creative Scotland and British Council, and also as International Projects Manager at Festivals Edinburgh (2014-2015). In this capacity, she dealt with international delegations, facilitating relationships and connections between different actors at a global level.
Leo Menezes
Leo Menezes is an exhibition curator, audiovisual director, screenwriter, content creator, Post-PhD at Rio de Janeiro Federal University, PhD in Communication at Fluminense Federal University and University of Westminster – London, and director at Other Wave Content, focused on exhibitions, experiences, documentaries, courses and published content.
He curated interactive exhibitions for the Museum of Tomorrow, International Water Forum, Rio + 20 and Rock in Rio.
Leo was Exhibition Curator and Creative Director for the Museum of Tomorrow (winner of the Leading Culture Destination Awards 2016, 2018 and 2021), in Rio de Janeiro and has directed three feature documentaries for cinemas and streaming platforms.
