I am responsible for curating an innovative, inspiring and challenging programme of contemporary visual art exhibitions in the Sandford Goudie Gallery and creating opportunities for regional artists and practitioners to showcase their work in Fusion Galleries at The Customs House. For the main Gallery, I seek to develop a wide range of exhibitions with regional, national and international artists and arts organizations, where appropriate to illustrate the breadth and balance of contemporary fine art practice, which includes painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, new media and installation art. 

I also devise and deliver a range of Gallery Education projects throughout the year, inspired by and linked to key exhibitions. Resulting work is often shown in the Fusion Galleries as well as work by emerging artists from the region.

I am interested all things creative, I love the arts in general and enjoy music and theatre events as well as contemporary visual art

 I work on the Creative Partnerships programme across North & South Tyneside which involves working with schools, their Creative Agents and Creative Practitioners.

I also have responsibility to manage Youth Dance England's North & South Tyneside programme which involves providing opportunities for children and young people across both boroughs to take part in all forms of Dance and organise  performance opportunities. Part of this work is managing The Custom House's break-dance group Custom Breaks, which is for young people aged 11 and upwards.

I enjoy exploring different creative influences and in my spare time I am interested in musical theatre, film (but not horror!), reading contemporary fiction, live literature, comedy and travel.

I am a Cultural Development Officer based in the Cultural Development Team. I manage an ‘Arts in Schools’ programme for North and South Tyneside, as well as Creative Partnerships, and work with Emma and Paul to  deliver Arts Award as an Adviser and Trainer . I also manage The Customs House Youth Theatre, and facilitate the Senior Group which is great fun.

My interests are drama, new media, poetry, theatre for and by young people, and reading and all aspects of creative approaches to learning and teaching.
 

I am responsible for helping to deliver Arts Award across North and South Tyneside as well as teaching Customs Breaks, a young people's break-dance class at the venue.

My interests include Bboying (breakdance), music, film, graffiti, subculture studies, travelling, tattoos, piercing, and ninja’s. 

 

I co-ordinate our Theatre in Edication (TIE) Apprentices Group, who are seven young people aged 16-19 years old . The group is delivered in partnership with South Tyneside College ACL and Gateshead Council.This innovative apprenticeship is a unique scheme to The Customs House Theatre in which a Theatre In Education (TIE) company is based and trained at an established, working theatre.

The Customs House T.I.E. apprentices work at the theatre where they learn all aspects of theatre from basic drama techniques through dance to technical and stage management. They also devise and write issue based drama to perform throughout South Tyneside all while receiving an EDI Level 2 National Award in Community Arts Management. Alongside their training they also attend Gateshead College where they work to receive a technical certificate in Creative and Cultural Practice.

The future of the group is set to carry on training and receive their qualification but also create original commercial performances. Alongside all of this they will carry on tackling more issue based subjects such as Underage Smoking and Teen Pregnancy. This means the group will seek out and apply for funding for these projects in the hope to become an established trusted and successful T.I.E company.

In addition to this, I also run The Customs House Youth Theatre Junior Group who are working towards devising their own modern interpritation of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' to be performed outdoors along the sea front in July 2011.

To book a show at your school/venue or discuss a potential commission, please contact me for more information.