If you’ve been keeping up with ArtisOn’s news over the past year, you’ll already know that the ArtisOn team is about to expand. It’s 13 years since we started ArtisOn with Ian Scott Massie and Josie Beszant as an unfunded, independent enterprise in 2010. Vanessa was on board from day one too, and has produced some miraculous food from the tiny tardis kitchen!
We converted to be a social enterprise (that means “not for profit business”) in 2015, with the idea that it would be easier for us to hand on ArtisOn and ensure its future when the time came. The pandemic was a huge challenge but with your support, we all came out the other side and, despite the cost of living crisis, ArtisOn is now on a secure footing and feeling confident about the future.
So, now seemed the perfect time to reinvigorate ArtisOn by introducing new faces and fresh ideas. Earlier this year, we put a call out for anyone with the skills, energy and enthusiasm to join us, with a view to taking over the business. We were delighted to find a ready-made trio, with an impressive range of experience and passion for creativity, to join the team. Nick is a bit more behind the scenes, but Elise and Joe will both be very visible. If you’ve visited ArtisOn this autumn, you might already have been introduced – Elise and Joe have been helping us out with workshops, and Vanessa’s even allowed them into the kitchen to lend a hand with clearing up! If you haven’t met yet, and you’re visiting us in 2024, you soon will do. In the meantime, you can get to know a little more about them all below.
The transition will be a marathon, not a sprint. We’re making time to get to know each other, allowing them to get to know customers and tutors, and get a feel for how ArtisOn works. So, the plan is that the five of us will be working together, with Vanessa’s help, throughout 2024. Look out for updates on progress next year. There will be no obvious changes in the short term other than an increase in the number of beards of course!
Here’s a bit more about our newbies….
ELISE BARRON
Elise has been a regular ArtisOn visitor since 2016, so she has first hand knowledge of what ArtisOn feels like as a customer. Professionally, she is a trained facilitator, experienced event organiser, and a dab hand at designing and delivering courses, having worked for over 14 years in Outreach and Engagement roles in the Environmental and Higher Education sectors. Having seen the power of bringing people together to share ideas and skills, Elise is passionate about the power of community and the potential to build on ArtisOn’s sense of creative community too.
Elise flexes her own artistic muscles through lino and collagraph printmaking and messes about with clay occasionally too.
JOE TOOGOOD
Joe brings with him lots of people focused energy, creativity and fun. His background is as a primary school teacher, where he always placed art and creativity at the centre of his teaching practice. He is a passionate believer in the transformative power that learning new skills and modes of expression can give to us all. So, he’s going to be keen to make an ArtisOn learning experience the best it can be! His enduring interest in creative development opportunities for younger people, may well put in a future appearance at ArtisOn – who knows.
In his spare time, Joe is an avid knitter, sketcher, musician and amateur weaver.
NICK BARRON
Nick brings a powerful combination of tech know-how and creativity to the team. He has 17 years experience working in website design and development, including delivering award-winning projects for clients in the arts, education and not-for-profit sectors. He co-founded his own digital agency in 2011, so has a great practical understanding of what it takes to grow and run a business day-to-day.
Although his role in the running of ArtisOn will largely be behind the scenes, digital design isn’t the only creative avenue he explores, as he’s also a musician and big into his photography.
We are very much looking forward to working together to deliver ArtisOn’s 14th year of workshops in 2024, and planning an exciting future for ArtisOn’s creative community.
Merry Christmas – here’s to 2024!
Gaynor, Sue, Elise, Joe & Nick
