Art, artists, and increasing access and reach to culture is my driving passion. With a background in arts administration and curation, I have had the pleasure of working with artists from all around the world, whilst profiling and championing a diverse range of artists and makers from across the region. I am also an artist.
I am a contemporary artist interested in the natural world, I make mixed media paintings. My passion and intention for DAN members is to facilitate good quality and exciting exhibiting opportunities for all.
The Teign Estuary outside my balcony, the salt air kisses my face, a woodburning stove at my feet. My fascination for faces, figures and abstractions just grows. In essence my work is a bit weird, but I like that.
Gillian Taylor is a freelance PR and marketing consultant, working with arts and cultural organisations in SW England and nationally. She helps to raise profiles by telling compelling stories about the power of the arts. She also provides training for cultural organisations in a range of topics including media interview techniques and smartphone video creation.
Gillian is also a paper artist, using her interest in the way we communicate to inspire her work. She has been taking photos of the sky every day since the beginning of lockdown in 2020.
Gill has a varied background in art education, having taught drawing, art, design and fibre craft for 18 years as an FE teacher and Lead Tutor. She qualified with ‘A’ Level Art and Design, BA, Australian Art History, and Fine Art University of Plymouth. She furthered her professional development with some of the best art schools in the country, including: London Fine Art Studios, Newlyn School of Art, Winslow Art Center, and Will Kemp Art School.
Kate has spent her career in the cultural sector, striving to create the conditions in which artists and makers can thrive. She is an Open Studios superfan, with a house full of artworks from her studio visits across the county.
She is the former Head of Business at The Box Plymouth, working closely with the CEO and Board to manage the organisation on a day to day basis, engage audiences and ensure financial sustainability. She was previously Chief Executive of Torbay Culture, overseeing the delivery of the Torbay Cultural Strategy and securing £2m of funding for cultural projects. She also worked at Manchester City Galleries for many years, culminating as Deputy Director to Maria Balshaw, now at Tate.
Kate now works as a consultant, helping cultural and heritage organisations such as The National Archives to meet their business objectives.
Sue is a practicing traditional printmaker living in Brixham. This followed her retirement in 2015 after 35 years working in local government cultural services across the south of England. Sue is passionate in helping with the continued development of the arts sector in the South West.
Allison McSparron-Edwards has lived in Paignton for the past five years and works as a full time oil painter and art instructor (especially portraiture and life drawing). Prior to that she worked mainly in London as a director for numerous creative agencies utilising her skills as a Chartered Accountant and a Business Psychologist.