Projects

My  work in the past two years has involved providing:

• Evidence based research that has contributed towards organisational change-planning.
• Facilitating awaydays for senior management and directors, helping them to clarify and take decisions on issues of immediate and future importance.

• Synthesising key aspects of cultural policy, best practice and on the ground delivery within formal documents that provide advocacy, argument and profile.
• Providing contextual workshops, CPD and training on various aspects of national arts policy, local implementation of policy, professional practice, and current trends within the arts.

2012:

• Business development research, a-n The Artists Information Company
• Organisational development facilitation, b-side festival.
• VL Sheffield Hallam University: Professional Practice module.
• Forgan Foregone, Guardian Culture Professionals
• State of the Arts conference critique – New Statesman Cultural Capital
• State of the Arts: why are you going? Guardian Culture Professionals
• State of the Arts Conference preview, Guardian Culture Professionals
• VL Sheffield Hallam University: Making Successful Applications.
• Research paper: Realising the Value: How practice-based organisations will fare after ACE cuts.  Revisiting the organisations in the original Ladders for Development report six months on, and restating the value of small infrastructure organisations to a healthy arts ecology.

2010/2011:

• Panellist for Guardian Culture Professionals Q&A: 2011 – A good or bad year for culture and heritage?
• Panellist for Guardian Careers Q&A: Quiz the professional artists
• Workshop National Arts Policy – Local Implementation, for Future-Creative, Kent.
• Research report: A Fair Share? Direct Funding to Artists, commissioned by a-n The Artists Information Company.  This research quantifies the amount of funding given directly to artists from each of the four UK arts councils in the years 2009-2010, and 2008-2009. It also summarises the funding streams available to individual artists and the current visual arts priorities of the UK arts councils.
• Public realm artist research and recommendations for major urban development in the north.
• Research report: Ladders of Development, commissioned by a-n The Artists Information Company. This research explores the impact of Arts Council England funding cuts on practice-led organisations, and the contribution those organisations make to the arts ecology.
• Development, business advice and marketing services for range of mid-career artists and arts organisations.  Clients have included b-side multimedia festival and Blank Studios; and artists Jeremy Gardiner, Kay Aplin, Lisa Creagh and Antonia Stowe.
• Presentations at various public events, including the Brighton  Festival Salon, and the Beyond the Commission symposium.
• Freelance writer and editor: see Journalism pages for links or downloads to my writing for magazines, newspapers and web outlets. Includes features and reviews for The Stage, a-n, New Statesman and Arts Industry.
• PhD candidate, University of Brighton. “Destination Bienniale: the politics of art production and presentation within three large-scare visual arts events.”
• Relationship Manager, Regional Planning: range of activity relating to regional planning, public art development and funding for Arts Council England, South East.  Lead officer for five RFOs and seven local authorities (including De La Warr Pavilion; Artsway, Stour Valley Arts,  Farnham Maltings and Artpoint).
• Visiting Lecturer: MA Fine Art & BA Fine Art, University of Brighton and Sheffield Hallam University.

  

Achievements as Creative Industries Manager for Brighton & Hove City Council:

 

Secured £215,000 for creation of purpose built Bristol Estate artists’ studios. Wrote business plan and managed budget. Managed entire project to completion, bringing it in on time and on budget. Supported the creation of a vibrant community of artists contributing to life on the Estate, and successful running of project. Documentation here.

Initiated Creative Workspace Study (CWS) and ensured adoption by Cabinet as Council policy and embedding in Local Development Framework Core Stategy. Chaired steering group, directed research, edited and published CWS top level document and eight working papers.

• Led partnership with Creative Brighton, the creative industries forum for Brighton & Hove, raising profile of creative sector within business infrastructure: www.creativebrighton.co.uk

• Advice and guidance to wide range of visual arts and creative industries practitioners, organisations and businesses, at all levels of development.

• Initiated and produced the annual Creative Brighton Debate, taking place during the Brighton International Festival with high profile speakers: Digital Zeitgeist (2008) and Whose Knowledge Economy is it Anyway? (2009). More info.

• Secured three year funding for the Creative Brighton debates, and partnership agreement with the University of Sussex.

• Presented at conferences including The Culture Business, (Chichester University 2007  ),  Creative Tomorrows (Doncaster 2007) and South Coast Towns Network (University of Brighton 2008). Panel participant at range of creative sector events including those organised by South East Media Network, University of Brighton events and Common Purpose.

• Speaker at launch events of Blank Studios(2007), Artists Open Houses (Sept 2008), Bristol Estate Studios (April 2008) and Cinecity (November 2008).

• Local Authority observer on Boards of Phoenix Arts, Brighton Photo Biennial, Brighton Photo Fringe and Cinecity.

• Supported development of new 14-19 Creative Media Diplomas with the Education Business Partnership.

• Development of strategic profile of creative industries in local, regional and national policy documents.

• Grant advice and assessments, internal and external.

Course Director, NVQ4 Arts Management Programme, Centre for Arts Development, Liverpool, March 2004 – Sept 2005 

• Recruited and managed all course tutors and students.  Liaised with internal and external assessors.  Increased pass rate to 85%. Managed and nurtured relationships with and between centre, staff, students and placements.
• Devised and developed curriculum, policy and procedures, evaluation of modules and course. Overall financial responsibility for course costs.
• Taught modules: Participatory Arts, Placement Preparation, Fundraising, & Monitoring & Evaluation.
• Devised, organised and supervised high quality ‘live’ placement projects with external partners, running over four months each and totalling eight placement projects a year.
• External placement partners included Liverpool Biennial of Art, Bluecoat Arts Centre, FACT, BBC Big Screen, South Liverpool Housing, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and community organisations.

Visiting Lecturer, University College Chester, BA Performing Arts 2005/2006

• Responsibility for six seminar groups in years 1, 2 and 3. 100% pass rate.
• Devised, delivered and assessed modules: Mapping the Arts Environment; Access, Audiences and Marketing; and Work-based Learning. Delivered whole year lectures Routes into the Professional Arts and Liverpool, Capital of Culture 2008.

2000- 2006

• Wrote and implemented the Creative Industries Strategy for Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, adopted as Council policy. Identified premises and developed detailed business plan for a Creative Industries Resource Centre, a managed workspace and CPD facility for creative practitioners, now open for four years. Raised £170k for initial refurbishment. Organised and/or delivered range of CPD and business support activities for creative practitioners (2002 – 2004).

• Board Member of South Liverpool Regeneration (2002 – 2004), a charitable subsidiary of South Liverpool Housing, a social housing provider, delivering the regeneration activities of the organisation. I assisted with setting strategy and objectives, and contributed to the collective management of a £3m budget.

• Manager of Leeds Arts Arena (2000 – 2002). Line management responsibility for several staff. Programmed three visual art and multi-media exhibition spaces successfully creating regional profile. Programmed and managed Leeds City Voice Festival. Raised £20k and managed The Writing Pad project at HMP Leeds. Managed Parallel Lines writing residencies project. Hosted Artspotting Debate. Enabled and supported many participatory arts projects. Active member of Leeds Visual Arts Forum, created to advocate for the visual arts in Leeds.

• Evaluated Different Angles project for Liverpool Biennial of Art. Wrote introduction to publication. Devised & delivered review writing workshop for creative writing tutors involved (2004).

• Creative LETS Project Mentor (Feb – Oct 2000). One of several action-research projects of the international Banking on Culture initiative being managed by ACE-NW. Mentored the management committee and commissioned to evaluate the project’s first six months. Part of project team presentation to MEPs and EU officials at the European Parliament in Brussels.

• Curated Traces of Five Millennia exhibition for the first Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art and produced catalogue (1999). Organised national conference Women in the Community examining the position of women in the Jewish community (1999). Organisation of Contained Art exhibition of prison inmates artwork at Liverpool city centre gallery (Sept 1997).

 

“Dany has always been the most enthusiastic and helpful supporter of the gallery. She was always pro-active in giving help – providing useful, practical advice and helping to make contacts and links for the gallery through her extensive knowledge and understanding of both the public and private sector arts worlds. For a small independent art gallery, it was fantastic to have such a knowledgeable and passionate advocate for what we were doing, and for the arts in general in Brighton”.

Richard Kalman, Director, Crane-Kalman Gallery, Brighton