OUR TRUSTEES

Sharon Brown

… is a Trustee of Arts Derbyshire and also the Director of Arts Melbourne CIC  the not for profit company which for the past 18 years has organized the Melbourne Festival in South Derbyshire featuring artists from Derbyshire and the Midlands exhibiting in venues throughout Melbourne. She is also Managing Director of Creative Melbourne Gallery & Studios providing exhibition space, studios and Spaces to create – creative hot-desking for regional artists. They also deliver a number of creative projects working with the local community and other artists and creative organisations.

She is also the very committed to promoting Derbyshire’s unique Festival community as Chairman of Festivity the Derbyshire Festivals Association.

Debi Hedderwick

…is a dance artist specialising in contemporary and creative dance theatre with young people and those with additional and complex needs; she also directs small-scale dance theatre company The Secret Dance Club. Debi is Co-founder and Creative Director of Learning Through Arts which specialises in using the performing arts with young people, people with additional needs, young asylum seekers and in the community, and aims for enhanced health and well-being, learning and progression, connection, communication, self-expression and cultural celebration. In free time Debi loves reading, creative writing, playing music, swimming, sailing and walking in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside.

Find out more about Debi

Alice Marshall (Vale)

…is a Performer, Choreographer, and Academic of Dance known in the region for her devise work in her subject area. Alice is Programme Lead for the Dance courses at the University of Derby and Artistic Director of Adaire to Dance.. This regularly ACE funded company is based at Déda and tours work across the county.

Find out more about Alice

Anna O’Steele

…is a freelance communications and organisational development specialist, who also works for Chol Theatre as their Strategy and Development Lead. With a communications career in the dance and theatre sector, spanning the last 25 years, she brings insight across the marketing mix, has experience of fundraising and business development, and has supported organisations on the development of business plans and strategies. 

Find out more about Anna

Kalila Storey

…is a Trustee of Arts Derbyshire and Programmes Manager for  People Express, a participatory arts charity based in South Derbyshire. People Express works alongside community groups to co-produce arts projects that are ambitious, in order to create artworks meaningful to the communities that make them. People Express works across all artforms, engaging the skills and experience of freelance artists, who offer a high quality arts experience. Kalila also sits on the South Derbyshire CVS board as a Trustee.

Daniel Oakley

…is the Community Arts Development Officer for Bolsover District Council. His role is to grow and develop opportunities for all types of creative projects for and with the people of the district of Bolsover which includes the towns of Clowne, South Normanton, Shirebrook and Bolsover. A keen Musician and Visual Artist, Daniel has been involved in various creative arts and young people’s projects across the whole of Derbyshire in many roles from participant through to project co-ordinator over the last 25 years.

“Arts and the benefits of being involved in creative activity are important to the growth, vitality and confidence of a community. Arts is a language and everyone should have the opportunity to have their say within it.”

Simon Hobbs

…is a retired lawyer who worked mostly in the public sector ending up as deputy director of legal services at the county council. He has a strong interest in a broad range of arts including ceramics, painting, opera  and music. He is also a keen reader and writer. He gave the 2012 Derby Lecture on the (neglected) Derbyshire poet John Gisborne and, since then,  has edited a book of family letters from the second world war and has just finished writing a novel based on  real events in Derbyshire in the 1860’s.

Find out more about Simon

Anna Malik

Mary Muir

… is currently freelance, Mary has worked in the arts for more than 30 years. Most recently, she was Arts Development Manager for Norfolk County Council, managing the work of Norfolk Arts Service, the strategic development service for the arts across the county. Additionally, she co-facilitated the strategic work of the Norfolk and Suffolk Culture Board including supporting the development and production of Culture Drives Impact, the regional manifesto guiding the development of arts and culture across both counties.

Mary relocated to Buxton in 2021 and since then has completed an Honours Degree in Creative Art and Design Practice at the University of Derby and Leek School of Art and is now studying for a Masters in Fine Art at Manchester School of Art. She is passionate about arts and culture and the many impacts that a vibrant, well supported and inclusive cultural sector can make to people, communities, and place.

Find out more about Mary

Sanjana Srinivasan

… is a freelance Assistant Curator at Artcore Gallery in Derby, where she also liaises with artists regarding studio spaces. With a background in Art Writing and Criticism, she has worked with galleries and cultural institutions in India and contributed to various art magazines and newspapers.

Passionate about the visual arts, Sanjana is excited about the creative arts and cultural sector in Derbyshire and the unique experience it offers. She is eager to learn more about its rich history and culture, and looks forward to contributing to its ongoing development. Outside of her curatorial work, she collaborates with her friends on The Turmeric Sky, a pop-up kitchen serving Indian delicacies.

Find out more about Sanjana