Vicky Higginson
Technical Assistant (Maternity Cover)
1 day per week
Emma Hislop
Technical Assistant (Maternity Leave)
1 day per week
Board Member
Dr. Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani is Lecturer in History of Art, Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh. She specialises in modern and contemporary art of the global diasporas, and is currently focussing on the postcolonial histories of African, Afro-Caribbean, Asian and Black British art in Britain and beyond. As a postdoctoral research associate at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven Connecticut, she co-curated the exhibition Bridget Riley: Perceptual Abstraction (2022), and has held numerous curatorial positions, including the Wichita Art Museum and the Ulrich Museum of Art, in Wichita, Kansas, USA; the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, USA; and Tate Liverpool, UK. Maryam has published widely on diasporic artists including Denis Williams, Frank Bowling, and the Caribbean Artists Movement. Her current research project examines the visual construction of the ‘Commonwealth,’ reflected or criticised in art practices, films and exhibitions produced in Britain and the Commonwealth between 1948-1978.
Board Member
Eric Mackay was a civil servant for many years and worked in a wide range of policy arenas in various Government Departments but, for the most part, in Scottish Government specialising in policy formulation and implementation of key strategies. Along the way he was Secretary to a Government Commission; Chaired the Scottish Government Committee and Report on Maternity Services in Scotland; and headed up the development and delivery of the Government’s strategy to tackle drugs misuse in Scotland.
On retiral, he has taken a renewed interest in art, design, architecture and sculpture with a specific interest in what sculpture and design can do to improve mental health. He is a regular attendee of exhibitions, an artist and his first novel is in the process of being published.
Board Member
Nicky Thomson is an ARB registered Architect. She graduated from the Mackintosh School of Architecture/Glasgow School of Art, working at architectural practices in Sydney and Los Angeles during and after her studies. Since 2003, she has been based in Scotland and has worked for several award-winning Scottish practices including Sutherland Hussey Harris, Hoskins Architects and Reiach and Hall Architects. In 2018, she established STUDIO NIRO, an architecture and design practice, which is based at Custom Lane in Leith.
Along with her work in practice Nicky is a design tutor at ESALA (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) and prior to that was a design tutor at Strathclyde University and the Mackintosh School of Architecture. She currently leads a 4th Year Unit in the Architectural Design Tectonics course called REORDER: the beauty of reuse, is on the advisory panel of the AE Foundation and has recently completed a season as a guest co-producer of Talks at the Lane.
Board Member
Nicola Anderson is a senior HR Professional with over 20 years experience in the public sector, including the NHS and the civil service. Nicola has held positions as Head of HR for the Scottish Ambulance Service, Head of HR and Organisational Development for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, and Head of Workforce Relations within the Directorate for Health Workforce at Scottish Government
She is currently working within medical education and training at Scottish Government, helping to shape policy for medical undergraduates in Scotland.
Nicola has a postgraduate diploma in HR from Napier University, is a chartered member of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) and has a postgraduate certificate in mediation from Aberdeen University.
Edward Frizzell
Chair
Eddie studied history and political economy at the University of Glasgow. He worked as an economist for some years before joining the then Scottish Office (now Scottish Government) in 1976. Following a spell dealing with agriculture and fisheries and a secondment to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Brussels he served in a number of roles, including Director of Scotland’s inward investment agency, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, and – after Devolution in 1999 – Head (Director General) of the Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department.
He has wide experience of governance, as Chair of Court at Abertay University Dundee, Chair of Trustees of Trefoil House, a charity helping disadvantaged young people, Vice-Chair of the Scottish Ambulance Service, an independent member of the Audit Committee of the English prison service, and a co-opted member of the Audit Committee of Edinburgh College of Art. He was for 10 years an Honorary Professor at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
Eddie has kept up his life long interest in art as a Friend of the National Galleries, and by taking part in evening classes in drawing, painting and sculpture at Edinburgh College of Art and elsewhere.
Kate Davis
Board Member
Artist and Senior Tutor (Royal College of Art, London)
Kate is an artist based in London and Edinburgh. Her work moves between material object, drawing, photography, video, performative lectures and text based works that are centred in the discipline of sculpture.
She has taught extensively from Foundation level to PhD throughout the UK and has held numerous External Examiner roles. She was made a Fellow of the Royal College in 2009 for her exceptional teaching and is currently External Examiner at the University of Northampton.
Kate has exhibited widely nationally and internationally and has received numerous awards, including the Sydney Water Sculpture Prize; the first Jerwood Drawing 1st Prize; the Sargant Fellowship, British School at Rome, the Stanley Picker Fellowship and Young Artist of the Year, Whitechapel Gallery .
In 2010 she began working with the Scottish artist David Moore. They have collaborated on a number of exhibitions and large-scale permanent public commissions here and abroad including Langdon Park ,a Dockland Light Railway and Riverlight, the new St James’ development designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in Nine Elms, London.
Irineu Destourelles
Board Member
Irineu Rocha da Cruz (AKA Irineu Destourelles) is a visual artist based in Edinburgh. Solo exhibitions include at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow and at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. He is an experienced engagement and learning professional with previous roles at the National Maritime Museum in London; as the Director of M_EIA, a visual arts and design institute, in his native Cape Verde; and within EU funded cultural development projects in West Africa. He received a BA Fine Art from Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam, an MA Fine Art at Central St Martins College of Art and Design, London and is currently pursuing a PhD in Film studies at UCL, London.
Giulia Gentili
Board Member
Giulia Gentili is an artist and technician who, until recently, was a Graduate Studio Holder at ESW. She received an MA Fine Art from Edinburgh College of Art and has worked recently within a variety of organisations including as a workshop technician at the Glasgow School of Art and at Edinburgh College of Art. She also has experience of exhibition installation work across Scotland including recent projects at Talbot Rice Gallery, Dundee Contemporary Arts and with East Lothian Council. In a prior role Gentili worked with the union Unite initiating worker support infrastructures. http://www.giuliagentili.com/
Dr Julian Luxford
Board Member
Julian is a historian of medieval art, architecture and ideas.
He has degrees from the universities of La Trobe (in Melbourne) and Cambridge (PhD), and was a Junior Research Fellow at Clare College Cambridge. Julian came to the University of St Andrews in 2004, and is currently Head of the School of Art History there.
Among other things, he is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on London, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and the Royal Historical Society; a council member of the British Archaeological Association, and a member of the Durham Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee as a representative of the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England.
John Matheson
Board Member
John is a Board Director with around 35 years’ experience of operating at a strategic Board level. He has held a number of management and Director roles in NHS Scotland providing financial advice to the Director General & Chief Executive, NHS Scotland and to Cabinet Secretary. He was Director of Finance, eHealth and Analytics, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates between 2008 and 2016 and chaired the Scottish Health Board Directors of Finance Group for 11 years. He was a member of CIPFA UK Council (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) from 1997-2002 and 2009 –2017. He has been a Member of the CIPFA UK Health Panel from 2006 to date and was CIPFA President July 2015- July 2016.
John was also a Member of the Board of Management of Edinburgh’s Telford College for 8 years as a Non-Executive Director to assist with Strategic Development. In addition John has chaired National Committees to develop eHealth Strategy and review Resource Allocation formula to determine Health Board Allocations. He led promotion of the Modern Apprenticeship Scheme across the Scottish Public Sector together with supporting the National Finance Training Scheme within the Scottish Health Service. He is a member of the Consultative Committee of Audit Scotland which has been set up to consider and develop Value for Money Audit Specifications.
Kathlyn McKellar
Board Member
Kathlyn is a senior manager with a background in HR and general management primarily within the public sector, with experience of working at Board and Executive Team level. From 2011 to 2015 she was Head of HR with Healthcare Improvement Scotland, leading HR strategy for this new organisation and working with the Board and Chief Executive to ensure that effective staff governance arrangements were in place.
Before that Kathlyn was Head of HR at NHS Quality Improvement Scotland for over seven years and prior to that was Personnel Manager at Edinburgh’s Telford College. Kathlyn graduated with a BA (Joint Honours) in German and French from Strathclyde University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.