WHO THE FUNK ARE
EDEN ARTS?

Simon Cole

Technical Manager

Simon is a Lighting Designer who started work with Eden Arts in 2012, working on Picnic Cinema. Before that he was a Theatre Technician for 7 years at ARC –a multi-venue arts centre in Stockton-on-Tees, after studying performance and finding he liked life backstage a lot more.

Simon has since worked as a Lighting & AV Designer and Production Manager alongside his work with Eden Arts. He has toured with small scale theatre and designed lighting and AV for theatres and theatre companies across the North working recently with Curious Monkey, OddManOut and Live Theatre in Newcastle. He looks after Penrith Old Fire Station and all things technical for Eden Arts.

Adrian Lochhead

Director

Adrian’s early career encompassed theatre, TV and Radio as a performer, director and writer, as well as with educational arts companies. He is passionate about the relevance of art and culture in enriching all of our lives.

Charles Quick

Board Member

Charles Quick is a Professor of Public Art Practice at the University of Central Lancashire and has over 40 years’ experience of working as a teacher, artist/researcher and curator in the public realm. He has contributed permanent and temporary arts projects for cities across the United Kingdom. In 2003 he co-founded the curatorial project ’In Certain Places’ and since then has worked with regional, national and international artists to develop works for the City, revealing, critiquing and provoking new understandings of a place and its peoples. Quick was co editor and contributor to ‘Subplots to a City’ a publication which marked the first ten years of In Certain Places work in Preston. The Henry Moore Institute and Leeds City Art Gallery hold this work in their collections and he has recorded his artistic life through the British Library sound archive, Artist’s Lives project. The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Art and Architecture Journal, Arts Professional, A-N Magazine and the Sculpture Magazine, amongst others, have written about his projects. Over the years, he has won awards from Arts Council England, the British Council, and HEFCE. Recently he became the Chair of the Arts and Place national consortium, as well as sitting on a number of boards of regional arts organisation in the North West.

Gordon Rigg

Board Member

Penrith born Gordon Rigg graduated in Mathematics at Manchester University in 1972 and started a career teaching the subject. In 1976, however, the failing health of his father led him to join the family printing business in which he worked until his retirement in 2009, thirty years as MD and overseeing the development of Reed’s Ltd. (now H & H Reeds Printers) to become one of the leading print firms in the North of England. He was also non-executive Director of Penrith Building Society for thirty years, ten of these as Chairman. Married to retired schoolteacher Yvonne with two grown-up children Rachel, who became a sound engineer and Richard, an artist and gallery technician now working in London, Gordon’s interests include music and the creative arts, reading, fishing, wine and real ale (not necessarily at the same time!) walking, all sports including active cycling.

John Sidney

Board Member

John Sidney is the Head of Category Management for Sellafield Ltd. This is a major change programme to revitalize and develop the engineering supply chain for nuclear decommissioning. John has a strong focus on cross-discipline cooperation and creative problem solving. Having worked in the UK, Africa and the USA, he is currently based in North West England. He is a member of the steering group for the Beacon Museum in Whitehaven, a Governor at Furness College and a board member of Atlantic Gateway.

An avid consumer of modern and contemporary art, he firmly believes in an integrated view, and works to remove the boundaries between science and art and to encourage creativity from wherever it may come from.

Richard Smith

Board Member (Chair)

Richard Smith has worked in museums and art galleries for over 13 years across management, exhibitions, education and collections. He currently leads the visual arts programme and sits on the senior management team for Lancaster Arts, a combined arts organisation based at Lancaster University. Through Peter Scott Gallery (a constituent part of Lancaster Arts) Richard works on contemporary art commissions, exhibitions and research projects whilst maintaining and developing the nationally significant Peter Scott Gallery collections.

Heather Walker

Deputy Director

Heather started out as a dancer, dance teacher and moved on to work as Company Manager at Tees Valley Dance. Heather has a degree from the University of Chichester in Dance and an MA from Reading University in The Body & Representation. She has also been a Digital Fellow at University of Teesside. At Eden Arts she leads on project development, project management and works closely with Adrian on company strategy.

Nykia Herron

Administrator

Nykia relocated to Cumbria from Los Angeles, California, USA in 2018. She has previously worked in the performing arts, on stage and screen. She has also earned an advanced professional certificate in Music Theory, Harmony, & Ear Training from Berklee College of Music. Nykia's love for art and culture led her to Eden Arts where she currently works as an office administrator.

Ann Marie Cowperthwaite

Board Member

Ann Marie is an Associate Director at Arup.

She leads on a diverse and exciting range of projects across Cumbria involving public and private sector and encompassing masterplanning, regeneration, industry strategy and engineering.

Miranda Kirschel MBE

Board Member

Miranda is Head of Business and Innovation at Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership. Miranda is a well-known face in the nuclear industry. She has worked for the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) as well as several companies in the sector in communications and business development roles. In the last few years, she has been pivotal in the promotion of the role of women in the industry as the Chair of the UK branch of Women in Nuclear (WiN) for which she was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List.

Kevin Beaty

Board Member

Kevin is an Eden based farmer and Local Eden District Councillor. He is former leader of Eden District Council and current chair Eden Arts #66 project.