Guernsey Arts appoints four new Directors to its Board.

The newly appointed Directors, Rebecca Booth, Dr Andy Sloan, Christina Stagg and Nathanial Eker-Male bring a wealth of experience across different backgrounds, alongside their interests in arts, performance, music and culture.

Guernsey Arts is a not for profit organisation which directly supports Island Artists and Bailiwick Arts Organisations with funding support and insight. The overarching aim of Guernsey Arts is to help the Bailiwick of Guernsey to be the most vibrant artistic community it can be, across all aspects of the arts. From photography and film to live music and theatre; from sculpture and visual arts to poetry and literary works, if it’s an art form, the Guernsey Arts team is on hand to guide, advise and help Island projects to reach their full potential.

The Guernsey Arts team is led by Head of Arts Development Russ Fossey with four members of staff who focus on the day to day promotion and support of arts activities within the Bailiwick of Guernsey. This team of arts professionals is supported by the Board of Guernsey Arts and includes three voluntary committees which assist with Grants, Funding and PR, ensuring that the charity is run effectively and sustainably.

Giving back to the Arts

Rebecca Booth is known to many within the arts community due to her role as a member of the Guernsey Arts Grants Committee. Rebecca is a Chartered Governance Professional and Non-executive Director with 20 years’ boardroom experience. Having worked with and on boards and committees for many years, and published academic papers on board performance, she has extensive knowledge of the application of sustainability and corporate governance best practice as well as risk management and leadership. Rebecca is also actively involved in Guernsey’s financial services industry as Chair of the Sustainable Finance Guernsey Council, a member of the GIFA Marketing Committee and The Sustainable Business Initiative of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce. Rebecca is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts and as part of her appointment as Director, will be taking over the role of Vice-Chair of the Guernsey Arts Grants Committee, which allocates grants to artists, creatives and community groups within the community.

Shining a spotlight on PR

Nathanial Eker-Male has over ten years’ experience in PR and PR adjacent roles, including time spent at Orchard PR, London agency GOLD79, and Specsavers. A graduate of Kings College London, Nathanial has managed accounts including Park Plaza Hotels, Comvita manuka honey, VisitGuernsey, Hand Picked Hotels, and Skipton International, whilst also creating content as a Freelance Entertainment Journalist for The Guernsey Press, Nintendo Life, Push Square, FilmHounds, The UK Film Review, Screen Rant, and Zavvi’s The Lowdown Magazine.

Recently appointed as Creative Strategist at Specsavers, Nathanial is passionate about creative communications. Members of the community who enjoyed Guernsey Arts’ 2023 tribute to 60 years of the Beatles will recognise Nathanial as one of the key members of The Beatles tribute band line up. Nathanial will be joining Guernsey Arts’ PR committee to advise on strategy for Guernsey Arts across its wide reaching remit of activities and community touch points.

Measuring the arts’ impact

Dr Andy Sloan is a professional economist and financial services professional with experience spanning international finance, regulation, governance and policy across the last three decades. He has held various senior leadership roles in the public sector and has been instrumental in shaping strategy – establishing Guernsey’s sustainable finance initiative with the formation of Guernsey Green Finance in 2018.

A former director at the GFSC he is presently a non executive director of several regulated local financial services companies.

Beyond finance, Andy has a long standing interest in the cultural and creative industries, recognising their economic and social value. As a Director at Guernsey Arts, he will help focus on analytics, helping to assess and articulate the impact of arts and culture on the community. With a background in strategic advisory he brings a data-driven approach to demonstrating the significance of arts in Guernsey’s economy and society.

Vibrancy through events and philanthropy

Christina Stagg moved to Guernsey from London 30 years ago to work in Guernsey’s finance sector as a compliance practitioner. A law graduate from Exeter University with experience working across London’s auction houses, Christina has a deep passion for the arts and knowledge of arts events, in particular classical music, opera and all forms of painting. In her spare time, she reproduces old master paintings using authentic materials and techniques in order to study and learn from the Renaissance masters, as well as developing her own art practices. She is interested in diaspora and multicultural art movements drawing inspiration from history and her own mixed heritage. Christina’s role will be focused on fundraising and philanthropic giving as she joins the Funding Committee, developing and supporting fundraising events.

Stephen Ainsworth, Chair of Guernsey Arts commented: “We are thrilled to welcome these talented individuals to the Board and grateful that they will be contributing their time and skills by giving back to the Third Sector. Their combined expertise will be instrumental in our ongoing work to deliver our Plan for the Arts.”

Main picture: Christina Stagg and Nathanial Eker-Male