STAFF & TRUSTEES

Huttson Lo will take up the role of Director on Monday 3 December 2012
Huttson comes to Stour Valley Arts from Wigan Leisure & Culture Trust, where he managed the arts development team, the Turnpike Gallery and the heritage education team, as well as the community wellbeing arts team at Cannock Chase.

Commenting, “SVA’s reputation over the last two decades has established it in a unique position in the arts sector.  I want ensure our place at the heart of an international exploratory network of arts and ecology organisations, relevant to local and remote audiences championing environmentally engaged arts practice. I look forward to the coming journey and the new relationships to come.”

A talented arts manager, Huttson is experienced in artistic and organisational development. At the Chinese Arts Centre, he set up the residency scheme in 1999 which continues today as the Breathe programme, supporting international artists including Gordon Cheung and Suki Chan. For Arts Council England, Huttson worked on the definition of diversity in arts practice and was one of the selectors for Decibel showcase between 2007 and 2011. He supported the development of international artists, including Cleveland Watkiss, Delaine Le Bas, Damian Le Bas and Sunday Driver. He brings to SVA considerable practical knowledge of digital and interactive production, a track record of participatory and community arts and a network across art forms and countries.

Huttson describes, “These are challenging times for everyone, the arts especially, but I remain ambitious for SVA: we will develop new and innovative opportunities for emerging, mid-career and established artists, and build on our international programmes into Europe and further, remembering throughout to increase our reach to audiences locally in Ashford and Kent, nationally and internationally, particularly through digital and interactive media.”

Huttsonlo@stourvalleyarts.org.uk

Lucy Medhurst, Head of Education and Learning
Lucy has been Head of Education and Learning at SVA since 2005. In 2010 Lucy completed an MA in Arts and Cultural Management from Sussex University based on her work at SVA.

Lucy studied Foundation at Brighton Art College then at Sussex University gaining a BA in Art History and Italian. She then worked at the Mercury Gallery in Cork Street as assistant to the Director. Following an apprenticeship at Canterbury Cathedral she studied Wall Paintings Conservation in Rome and worked freelance for many years. After having children she became involved in education projects making murals and large scale mosaics.  Lucy spent 2 years with an Education Business Partnership before moving to SVA.  She is a keen allotment holder, commutes by bike and is interested in the natural environment.

Amanda Thesiger, Administrator
Amanda trained as a painter, including an MA at the Royal Academy Schools and a Scholarship at the British School at Rome. She has continued to paint and has exhibited her work in shows all over the UK for the last 20 years.  A part-time job at Friends of the Earth supported her artistic career for many years. It also focused Amanda’s passion for the natural environment and the means to campaign on local environmental issues.

Dan Howard-Birt , Assistant Curator 
Dan studied Art History and Fine Art at Goldsmiths College and the Royal College of Art. He began to curate independent group exhibitions whilst still at the RCA, and continues to do so. Before joining SVA, he worked for the Artist-led gallery GENERATORprojects in Dundee and in 2010 he launched LIDO, a sporadic exhibition project in St Leonards-On-Sea.

TRUSTEES

Martin Hall, Chair
Martin is Director of Greening the Gateway Kent and Medway and was a founding director of Stour Valley Arts

Nick Johannsen
Nick is Director of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which encompasses King’s Wood.

Chris Marsh
Chris Marsh is Managing Director of Christopher Marsh and Co.Ltd (Sustainable Property Consultants) and as a Chartered Surveyor and Chartered Town Planner has been heavily involved in research and consultancy projects for many years, client’s including the ODPM, the GLA and the RICS.

Most recently, he was part of the team advising the Government (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) on the practicality of the tariff in an amended form and (separately) possible changes to the Affordable Housing regime with a view to speeding up delivery.

Chris is a Board member of the charity Ixia (formerly the Public Art Forum) and a judge for both the Arts Council’s Artplus scheme and the Rouse Kent Public Art award.  He lives near Ashford.

Ann Mathews
Ann is a local solicitor, based in Faversham

Jem Finer
Jem works in experimental and popular music, film, photography and installation. An enduring fascination with deep time and space has been the impetus behind much of his work. 

He was awarded the PRS New Music Award in 2005 to build Score for a Hole in the Ground (in collaboration with SVA in Kingswood, Kent), and is the creator of the 1000-year-long composition Longplayer.

Dr Dominic Rahtz
Dominic is Senior Lecturer in the History and Theory of Art at the University for the Creative Arts at Canterbury. His research focuses on art in the 1960’s and 70’s and its material and political legacy today. Dominic has published texts in the Oxford Art Journal and Art History. His article ‘Literality and the Absence of Self in the work of Carl Andre” is reprinted in Collected Writings on Carl Andre Since 1965 (Ridinghouse, 2006) and he contributed the chapter “Robert Smithson” to Art: Key Contemporary Thinkers (Berg, 2007).

Maggie Anwell
Maggie is a trained psychotherapist and teacher.


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