Developing Creativity & Connecting Communities with arts and culture
Below you will find:
- More information about Babylon ARTS
- Our staff team
- Info about our trustees
What is Babylon ARTS?
Our mission is to develop creativity and connect communities with arts and culture.
Our aims are:
- To enrich more people’s lives through our inspiring and dynamic programmes.
- To build our networks, developing partnerships and connections that enable us to grow arts and cultural provision for the enjoyment of people across the fens and beyond.
- To nurture creative practice of those who live and work in the fens and beyond; providing opportunities through our programmes, to showcase their work.
- To be recognised as an essential part of the area’s cultural, economic and artistic life.
We are:
Resourceful: we seek to develop new partnerships and create opportunities through our work to increase opportunities for arts and creativity to flourish.
Passionate: We care deeply about the communities in which we work and will work fervently to showcase and develop engaging and exciting creative opportunities.
Curious: we are interested in people’s ideas and in new ways of working. We’re open to trying new things and taking considered risks to reach new audiences. We’re keen to invoke curiosity in the communities we work in.
Inclusive: we value diversity, promote equality and provide a supportive environment for artists, audiences, partners and businesses to be creative in response to a variety of art forms, styles and genres.
Babylon ARTS (operated by ADEC, Arts Development in East Cambridgeshire), is an independent company limited by guarantee and a registered charity 1043197.
Our Annual Report & Accounts are available to download from Companies House. Details can also be found on our organisation's pages on the Charity Commission website.
Our Staff
Karen Birch - Interim Chief Executive Officer
Ema Holman - Interim General Manager
Florence Tong - Programme Manager (Creative Communities & Cultural Education)
Beth Haysom - Freelance Marketing, Communications and Administration Officer
CPP MarketPlace
Rob Drummer - Programme Director (CPP MarketPlace Project)
Claire Sawford - Programme Manager (CPP MarketPlace Project)
Peggy Mends - Creative Producer (CPP MarketPlace Project, Fenland)
Maddie Exton - Creative Producer (CPP MarketPlace Project)
Carly Robinson - Community & Programme Assistant (CPP MarketPlace Project)
Our Trustees
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Linda McCord (Chair) Linda McCord has worked to improve services for people using transport for the past ten years. As a Senior Manager at Transport Focus, and Chair of the West Midlands Bus Alliance, she ensures that passengers are at the heart of national and local government decisions and that the transport user voice is being heard. As Chair of the West Midlands Bus Alliance, the first of its kind in the UK, she works with bus operators, local councils, and other partners to deliver high levels of passenger satisfaction and drive forward investment in bus services. Prior to that she was regional manager at the Consumer Council for Postal Services, worked for a short while at Cambridgeshire Acre and for many years assisted unemployed people secure work. She is an amateur artist enjoying painting using various media including felting, mosaic and stained glass.
Dawn Bainbridge (info to follow)
Ted Coney has been teaching Art for over forty five years, mostly as Head of Art and Design at Hills Road Sixth Form College, and currently at St Andrews, Cambridge. He also works as a Moderator, Examiner and Trainer in Art Education. Ted has been making paintings about family relationships for many years and currently runs Ted Coney's Family Portraits - a pop-up gallery open to the public on Waterside. He also gives lectures and sells prints connected to his practice.
Charlie Coulthard has worked extensively with writers and creatives in the publishing and theatre industries. Most recently working with playwrights, composers and lyricists to acquire the rights to and develop new work for the stage for a global theatrical licensing house. She is a reader for several theatrical prizes including the Women’s Prize for Playwriting. Outside of work, she loves reading, theatre, making clothes and is a Community Archaeology Volunteer at Wicken Fen.
Iain Downey (Secretary) has had a long serving career as a practising solicitor for over 30 years with considerable experience of public facing bodies and still works as a consultant in relevant areas of the law. Prior to retirement Iain was Chief Executive, Solicitor and Clerk to the Middle Level Commissioners (MLC), a statutory public authority operating in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. With a long interest in the organisation as an audience member, Iain's daughter is currently in the final stages of completing her Gold Arts Award under the guidance of Babylon ARTS.
Stuart Green is a full time practising artist and tutor. Stuart has extensive experience as artist in residence in schools and with public art commissions. A retired previous Director of Art, he is a frequent tutor at Denman College, Oxfordshire and has worked with Babylon ARTS for many years as exhibitor, judge, curator, volunteer and now trustee.
Catherine Harvey retired in 2014 as Deputy Chair of the Prisoners Review Board (Parole) in Western Australia. Prior to that she enjoyed a career in the UK focussed on consumer interests. For nearly 20 years she was a non executive director within the NHS with a special interest in patient and public involvement in the development of health services and was Chair of the Consumer Council for Water (Eastern) from 2000 to 2007. She also sat on Boards for Safeguarding Children, the Royal College for Veterinary Surgeons and a Mental Health Tribunal as an independent lay representative. She first came to the fens in 2000 and has developed a strong interest in local archaeology and has participated in several digs. She enjoys walking and cycling throughout East Anglia. Since retiring and moving to Ely Catherine is engaged as a volunteer with the National Institute of Health Research as the Lay Representative on the Eastern Executive Committee, the Oxfam bookshop in Ely and Babylon Arts.
Linda Holland is an experienced consultant with a long career working in senior management in large national and international charities. Developing both strategic and implementations plans to deliver large scale projects, implementing organisational change and supporting the development of individuals and teams. She has worked across sectors including health & social care, charity retail, welfare to work, business and social enterprise start-ups and business growth. Previously she has worked in advertising and film production and was a Director in an SME. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Theresa Veith (info to follow)