Arts Derbyshire is supported by a team of trustees. The Arts Derbyshire board of trustees’ work supports our goal of enriching people’s lives through the arts. As well as supporting Derbyshire’s art scene through Arts Derbyshire, our trustees also have personal links to the creative sector, with many of them being artists themselves. Although you may have read about our trustees already here, in this series we want to introduce you to each Arts Derbyshire Trustee and let them tell you about their story and relationship with the Derbyshire arts scene.
In this article, we would like to introduce you to our Trustee Mary Muir.
Mary brings more than 30 years of strategic arts development experience to her role as a trustee at Arts Derbyshire. Most recently, she was Arts Development Manager for Norfolk County Council, where she worked for 22 years. After relocating to Buxton in 2021, she completed a Creative Art and Design Practice degree at Derby University and Leek School of Art and is currently completing a Master’s in Fine Art at Manchester School of Art focused on Orkney, her childhood home.
She is passionately interested in the role of the arts in supporting health, well-being and vibrant, inclusive communities. She is delighted to join Arts Derbyshire at such an exciting time in its development and to support its driving ambition to ensure that people’s lives throughout our creative county are enriched and strengthened by access to and participation in the arts.
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 currently studying for a Masters in Fine Art at Manchester School of Art.
At a time when the cultural sector is struggling with the impacts of reduced funding, the legacy from COVID and a challenging economic climate, imaginative and strong strategic support is vital. Arts Derbyshire is of vital importance in ensuring that our arts organisations and artists are well supported and strongly placed to access new strategic opportunities, both for the benefit of everyone living in Derbyshire, and visitors to our county. I am delighted to help support this vital work as an Arts Derbyshire trustee.
Visit our Meet the Trustees page here for an overview of our board. Follow our Introducing Our Trustees series to find out more about each individual Trustee’s story and what Arts Derbyshire means to them.
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