The British Council has made three exciting new appointments to the senior Arts Leadership team.
Gregory Nash has taken up the role of Creative Director and Caroline Meaby as Director Arts Network.
Gregory and Caroline, together with Steve Stenning as Head of Arts and Society, will form the new Senior Arts Leadership Team, led by Kate Arthurs as Director, Arts.
Kate Arthurs, Director, Arts, said:
“I am delighted to welcome Gregory and Caroline to the team. Along with Steve Stenning, they bring a fantastic breadth of knowledge and expertise to the British Council and to our arts team. Our shared mission will be to connect people worldwide through the arts in order to strengthen the UK’s relationship with the world.”
Gregory Nash, as Creative Director, will lead the British Council’s art form teams, drawing together their work in support of a global programme which brings artists and organisations from across the UK into contact with an audience of 200m people in 110 countries. He will work closely with arts teams in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and lead for the organisation on key external relationships including the UK’s arts councils and creative agencies and the BBC.
Caroline Meaby, as Director Arts Network, will provide leadership and support for the British Council’s arts portfolio overseas. She will also lead in promoting UK sector understanding of overseas opportunities and needs, including the Creative Europe Desk, and lead on in-bound and out-bound delegations.
Steve Stenning, as Head of Arts and Society, leads the British Council’s work bringing arts, creativity and innovation to global challenges. He leads the cross artform and social enterprise teams and programmes including the UK’s Cultural Protection Fund, Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth, and Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies.
Gregory was Director Arts for the British Council in its Wider Europe region of fifteen countries (including Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and Israel) from 2011 – 2017. He was previously Director of The Point in Eastleigh, where he established the UK’s first venue-based residential creation space, and of the Australian Dance Council in Sydney, where he founded the Critical Path performance research centre. A former professional dancer and choreographer, he has also been a projects manager in the British Council’s Theatre and Dance team, programme manager at London’s Dance Umbrella Festival and producer for Northern Stage in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Caroline joined the British Council in 2013 as Senior Programme Manager in its Creative Economy team, leading on global programmes promoting creative entrepreneurship. In 2017 she became interim Director Arts, in its Wider Europe region. Before joining the British Council, Caroline Meaby built a career in television production at the BBC, working on BAFTA award winning programmes and producing multimedia talent development schemes with BBC News. From 2011 – 13 Caroline was Director of Talent Schemes at the Edinburgh International TV Festival, overseeing UK-wide activity throughout the year which culminated in a main programme of activity in Edinburgh in August.
Stephen joined the British Council in 2011 as Director Arts for its Middle East North Africa region, returning to the UK to become Director Culture & Development and to establish the UK’s Cultural Protection Fund. He was previously a festival director and producer, a theatre director and associate director of Dundee rep and a published playwright.
Kate is recently appointed as Director Arts, leading the British Council’s global arts programme. Previous roles at the British Council include Director Strategy, Arts, Head of Arts in Mexico, Deputy Country Director Vietnam with East Asia-wide leadership of vocational skills training, and culture and development work in South Sudan. Kate formerly worked as an independent cultural manager, focused on international literature partnerships. She began her career managing Europe-wide projects at the Foreign Policy Centre and British Council Brussels on themes of diversity, inclusion, soft power and Britain’s role in Europe. She is a Director of Wasafiri magazine of international writing and speaks three languages.