DERBY.- Derby QUAD has announced five new members of staff who have joined the team in new positions at the venue. The five new members of staff are: David Thomas Crawley, Education Curator; Robert Colbert, Commercial Manager; Emma Weatherdon, Development Manager; Emma Woodward, Engagement Officer and Jill Carruthers, Programme Assistant. QUAD received a total of 379 applications for the five new positions.

David Thomas Crawley has joined the team as QUAD’s new Education Curator. David will be building on QUAD’s education programme with new opportunities for schools and colleges in Derby and the local region, both in QUAD and working in schools. David has previously worked as a Secondary teacher and Lecturer in Art and Design, successfully completed his MA Contemporary Fine Art (Practice & Curation) at Sheffield Hallam University and continues to work as an artist and curator. His own work focuses on photography and new media and has conducted talks at Site Gallery, Sheffield and exhibited as part of Liverpool Independents Biennial 2010. He has also been commissioned by Liverpool Biennial to run a variety projects with students and community groups. David said “I am looking forward to creating some exciting opportunities for young people and I am keen to develop links with any school and colleges in the region who would like to engage with the Arts on any level to enhance their curriculum”. David will be arranging twilight sessions for teachers in November.

Rob Colbert is the new Commercial Manager at QUAD and will be responsible for generating and developing new earned income to support QUAD’s creative aims. Prior to joining QUAD, Rob worked at the Circus Space in London for fifteen years, playing an integral role in developing adult participation programme areas. Rob comes from a visual arts background having studied film & photography and has completed a research MA in Arts & Cultural Management. Prior to joining Circus Space, Rob worked for the Stills Photography Gallery in Edinburgh and as a photographic artist in Scotland. As well as being an arts professional, he produced many circus productions for Circus Space, ran his own circus Performance Company and even performed himself as a flying trapeze artist!

Emma Weatherdon, the new Development Manager at QUAD, is a fundraiser with over ten years experience in the charity sector, most recently managing the Midlands and East Anglia region for Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). Emma is a member of the Institute of Fundraising and the Chartered Institute of Marketing and has a Business degree. She will be concentrating on developing a sustainable funding strategy for QUAD and is looking forward to working with local people and businesses. Emma can be contacted at: emmajw@derbyquad.co.uk

Emma Woodward is the new Engagement Officer at QUAD. Emma will be responsible for developing and delivering a public programme of activities that support QUAD’s gallery, film, participatory and lifestyle programmes. Prior to joining QUAD, she worked as a Film and Media Lecturer at a variety of Colleges in Derby and Nottingham and also in the Casting Department at Derby Playhouse. Emma has a degree in Cultural and Media Studies, an MA in Cinema Studies and a PGCE in Further Education.

The new programme assistant, Jill Carruthers, will be responsible for liaising with artists and curators around the world to help bring the exciting exhibitions to QUAD’s Gallery spaces. She comes from a visual arts and photography background and is also a professional belly dancer and teacher. Since completing her degree at Leeds Art College she has worked as a freelance exhibitions coordinator, working with international artists and coordinating exhibitions in cities across England and Germany. She is currently working in collaboration with an internationally renowned, Leeds-based artist on their upcoming show in the V&A London in 2011.
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