As the cost of living crisis rages on we all know that the arts play a role in keeping our communities healthy and hopeful by providing safe spaces, imaginary worlds, opportunities to learn and amazing experiences that bring us together.  It’s now more important than ever that residents from across all parts of the City have experiences available to them that feel relevant, that they have the agency and support to create their own opportunities and they can also find routes into the creative workforce.  I will be advocating and making connections where I can to help organisations reach and empower residents so no-one misses out.

Collectively I hope we can create the best conditions for new voices to emerge, so we can reflect the diversity of our residents in our leadership structures and in our audiences.

I’m in awe at how freelancers and organisations have adapted and survived the unbelievable challenges of the last 2.5 years.  I’ve seen amazing collaboration and generosity over this time in the City, and firmly believe that we need to maintain that willingness to co-design solutions so we can continue to adapt to the unsettling times ahead.

I’m looking forward to working with the ABCD Cultural Recovery team on the evolution of this initiative, that was originally established as a response to Covid, to a new structure for future collaborative working. And I shall be working with partners in the City, and across the South East, to seek opportunities that will help the cultural and wider creative industries survive and thrive.

We’re now recruiting for an Arts Development Officer to join the team, please do share this link, I’m happy to have a chat with anyone curious about the role.

Many thanks to those people who have been in touch, I’m excited about working in the City to harness creative ambitions, drive forward new initiatives, and make extraordinary things happen.

Marina Norris