Company, Freelancers & Trustees
Freelance Associates
Stephanie Allen
Stephanie has over 20 years’ experience working as a producer, creative director and project manager. She has worked on a huge variety of artist-led projects for Artsadmin, Peak Cymru and the Hayward Gallery as well as enabling and supporting site-responsive projects nationally and internationally as a freelance producer. This is twinned with significant business planning, partnership management, fundraising and strategic development roles across the arts and cultural sector including positions at Arts Council England, The Geffrye Museum, the Sidney Nolan Trust and Creative United as Head of Strategic Development. Whilst at Creative United, she undertook commissioned research in partnership with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and The London Mayor’s Office as well as leading on partnership development and the strategic development of the national Own Art and Take it Away schemes.
Becky Orwin
Since completing her MA in Creative Writing at Newcastle University, Becky has worked in a range of project coordination and administration roles for several arts organisations in the North East, including Northern Stage, New Writing North and Tyneside Cinema. She has worked for Arts&Heritage since April 2018, supporting the organisation across a variety of projects. Alongside her work for Arts&Heritage, Becky is a children's author: her first novel will be published by Puffin in January 2026.
Bev Shephard
Bev has 20+ years experience working in finance, HR and strategy across the arts sector. After a BMus at Manchester University and an MMus in Contemporary Music at Goldsmiths, she worked at Dulwich Picture Gallery, strategy body Culture East Midlands, and as Finance and Resources Director at The Mighty Creatives, Leicester. Bev founded the gallery and studios Haarlem Artspace, Derbyshire and was a Creative Business Advisor for Leicestershire County Council. She's run her own boutique consultancy since 2015, working with a number of charities across the arts and cultural sector as their Finance and HR Director. She's worked with Arts and Heritage since 2022.
Marie-Anne McQuay
Marie-Anne McQuay is a curator & writer based in Liverpool. Most recently she was Guest Curator Liverpool Biennial 2025: BEDROCK working with 30 international artists across 18 sites. She was Director of Projects, A&H (2022-4) developing commissions with artists including Hanna Tuulikki & Jocelyn McGregor and working with organisations including Glasgow Cathedral, Lakeland Arts & Faith Museum. Marie-Anne was Head of Programme at Bluecoat, Liverpool (2015-2022) where she curated exhibitions by Larissa Sansour, Adham Faramawy, Suki Chan, Jade de Montserrat, Jonathan Baldock, Rosa-Johan Uddoh, Deborah Roberts, Sumuyya Khader & Grace Ndiritu. She was Guest Curator Wales in Venice (2019) with artist Sean Edwards & Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham, and Curator Spike Island, Bristol (2007-2013). She is a VL at LJMU, Fine Art & on the Advisory Board of At The Library, Sefton (2023-). She was on the Arts Council Collection Acquisitions Committee (2022-25) & currently nominates for Henry Moore Artist Award, Film London Jarman Award & The Arts Foundation Futures Awards.
Rebecca Farley
Rebecca has over 25 years’ experience of working in academia and across the arts and heritage sectors. Her practice, writing and research has a particular focus on public art commissioning and on exploring the intersections between heritage places and contemporary arts practice. As a Research Associate at Newcastle University Rebecca has led on several major AHRC funded research projects. These include, in 2023-24, the initiation of a new transnational contemporary art in heritage network developed in collaboration with Arts&Heritage, National Trust, the Artist’s Studio Museum Network, and International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. Before joining Newcastle University as a researcher in 2011, Rebecca worked as a public art producer with the Newcastle-based commissioning agency Grit&Pearl, as Commissions Officer with Arts Council England North East, and previously as an Artists’ Professional Development Advisor with AN The Artists Information Company.
Judith King
Judith King is a contemporary art curator and consultant who has worked with national and international heritage organisations and museums over the past 25 years, advocating for and delivering creative projects that align with audience building strategies as well as examining accepted historical narratives and the presentation of British history. Judith was a senior research associate at Newcastle University between 2017-25, engaged in research that examined the impact placing contemporary art in heritage spaces and museum collections has on artistic practice, audiences, and heritage organisations/museums. These AHRC funded projects also included focussed work with heritage volunteers who have been asked to present contemporary works at their place of volunteering, and this work continues. King was one of the Founding Directors of Arts&Heritage and the contemporary art curator for English Heritage for 16 years, initiating and delivery high profile projects such as The Sitooteries and Fashion At Belsay. www.artsandheritage.org.uk www.research.ncl.ac.uk/mcahe
Rajwant Kaur Singh
Rajwant is an arts and culture leader with over a decade of experience championing accessibility, inclusion, and social impact across the creative and heritage sectors. Rajwant has contributed to strategic development, programme design, and creative production at a range of national organisations, including Whitechapel Gallery, Tate, the Architectural Association, Rosetta Arts and the Royal Household. Rajwant is CEO of Children's Hearts UK, the national charity championing children with heart conditions across the UK and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Concrete Youth, an organisation dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities through cultural provision. With a commitment to widening participation, embedding inclusive practice, and ensuring that culture is meaningful and accessible, Rajwant joined Arts & Heritage in 2021 supporting the Meeting Point programme.
Kama Roberts
Kama is a Herefordshire based freelance producer working with companies operating at hyper-local, national and international scale. She is drawn to projects that excite, inspire joy and wonder, and create meaningful experiences for artists, communities, audiences… and herself. Alongside extensive work in contemporary dance in Wales, Kama cares about contributing to social change and empowering lesser-heard voices. She’s recently led the redevelopment of Mid Powys Youth Theatre, re-igniting its legacy of bold, ambitious work with rural young people. She is currently working with Herefordshire based Open Sky Theatre on a fabulous new production The Home- touring Herefordshire and borders this February. Kama loves working outdoors and in landscapes, where story, place and people meet. Her background as an actor landscape focused storyteller runs through her work. This role with Arts & Heritage brings together many strands of her practice, and she is excited to be working in ways that feel deeply aligned.
Lauren Velvick
Lauren Velvick is a producer, curator, writer and editor based in the North of England. With extensive experience in producing and curating within an institutional settings and delivering independent projects, Lauren has worked across a variety of organisations from the artist-led to Higher Education, and across the North of England from Liverpool to Hull, and now in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Lauren is a regular contributor to national contemporary art publications such as Art Monthly, and is Managing Editor of Corridor8, the journal of contemporary art and writing based in the North and Midlands of England. Lauren’s creative practice is predicated on the temporary contracts that have characterised her career, and she has sought to critically embody the role of ‘incomer’, intentionally seeking out the unique creative communities and practices that exist in places that may not be typically considered as cultural centres.
Amy Lee Forde
Amy Lee Forde is a Sheffield-based creative communications specialist working across the arts, heritage and voluntary sectors. Her practice combines strategic thinking, visual communication and storytelling to help organisations connect meaningfully with their communities. Amy has collaborated with a wide range of projects to develop brand identities, design digital platforms and produce accessible content. Her portfolio includes the coordination and design of annual reports, cross sector campaigns and mental-health-focused zines that bring together interviews, artwork and lived experience to reach wider audiences. Alongside her design and consultancy work, Amy is an experienced freelance journalist, with writing published by numerous publications, as well as several self published blogs and podcasts. Her work is driven by a commitment to social impact, with a particular interest in issues that face Women and Girls, and a passion to drive meaningful change. Amy also has experience in creative facilitation and engagement; she is currently working on producing a heritage zine with a girls group based in Rotherham.
Jonathan Nash
Jonathan is a Project Manager and Creative Strategist working in museums. Jonathan started his career working with communities, schools, artists and creatives to co-curate projects across West Cheshire Museums. This included leading an organisational change project to successfully embed youth voice across the museum group. Since 2020, Jonathan has worked at National Museums Liverpool, firstly within their Strategic Planning Team and more recently as a Project Manager for their temporary exhibitions programme. Jonathan is passionate about relevance and representation within the cultural sector. This has seen him lead Arts&Heritage’s Board through a period of transformation, significantly expanding and diversifying its Trustees.
Madiha Bakir
Madiha started her career in consulting at PwC London and has worked as a Board and Executive Advisor to charities, companies and government entities. Most recently, she transitioned to the arts world and worked as a freelance artist and independent curator in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. She returns to the UK after several years of working in culturally diverse environments across Europe and the Middle East. Madiha combines risk, finance, business development and strategy expertise with a solid understanding of governance, change leadership and business transformation.
Daniel Carpenter
Daniel Carpenter has worked in the arts, crafts and heritage sectors for over 15 years. He is currently Director of Heritage Crafts, the charitable organisation set up to celebrate and safeguard traditional craft skills in the UK, of which he was one of the founders in 2009. He also spent nine years working for Creative Lives (formerly Voluntary Arts) which exists to promote active participation in everyday creativity. He is an Ambassador of The Fathom Trust, which promotes health and healing by creating opportunities for people to participate in the conservation of traditional crafts, landscapes, and cultures.
R.M. Sánchez-Camus (Marcelo)
R.M. Sánchez-Camus (Marcelo) is a creative practitioner, organisational developer, performance coach, and futurist. He is Creative Director of Applied Live Art Studio (ALAS), an action-research studio developing work around socially engaged and site-responsive works of art. He is co-founder and co-director of Social Art Publications, a publishing house for artists books on social practice. Marcelo is Head of Delivery for Public Engagement and Learning at Imperial War Museums. His work happens in two strands: creative art works working collaboratively with communities, and sector support work developing research and organisational development to help improve cultural democracy and participation. Marcelo co-founded various mutual aid groups and networks including: Coalition of Creative Artists in New York, Social Art Network in UK, and Social Art International in Berlin. He was Lead Artist and report author for Social Artists For Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (SAFEDI) an AHRC pilot EDI fellowship producing research around arts access and policy.
Marcus Crofton
Marcus is an Arts Communications Consultant with a commercial gallery, museum, non-profit and PR agency background. He is formerly Head of Press & Marketing at Waddington Custot gallery and spent seven years running the communications for the Contemporary Art Society, an organisation that supports the acquisition of art and craft for museums around the UK. In addition he has run press campaigns for organisations including the British Museum, National Museum of Scotland and London Art Fair. In 2024 he completed the Executive Leadership Programme at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
Bamike Sawyerr
Bamike is a qualified Finance Professional and Trustee with several years’ experience in financial governance, charity finance, social housing, and property development. A strong advocate for community well-being, combining financial experience with a passion for mindfulness and creativity. Bamike has served on multiple boards, presented to stakeholders, and contributed to governance and risk management. Currently, in addition to finance, she delivers mindfulness training and provides arts, mindfulness, and well-being classes at Croydon Health & Wellbeing Space in partnership with Mind in Croydon.
Scott Heath
Scott has spent the last decade working in the rail industry, with his time equally split between Network Rail and Thales. Although his early career dealt with infrastructure enhancement projects, he has spent over 7 years in the Innovation and R&D domain; managing and coordinating European Commission projects and working with an array of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises seeking to bring new technology to rail. At Thales, Scott is responsible for managing the UK portfolio of Innovation projects, and he is the owner of the domestic technology roadmap and strategy. Scott is a Scientist that works in Engineering, with a Bachelors in Chemistry (Imperial College London) and a Masters in Programme and Project Management (University of Warwick). He is a Member of the Association of Project Management and was the recipient of British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2018 Queen’s Honours List.