Staff Team

Amber McGhee – Facilitator Artist    (she / her)

Amber facilitates our core programme in Studio Arts, Studio Lift-Off and Studio Theatre, supporting our artists in group and 1-2-1 work. Amber also supports the facilitation and planning of commissioned workshops for James Rennie and Lakes College, focusing on identity, creative experimentation and confidence building.

Outside of Prism Arts, Amber is a Makeup Artist who enjoys getting her clients glammed up for special occasions and leading workshops for emerging MUAs. In her spare time, Amber enjoys working on her own art practice and chilling with her 6 cats!

Catherine Coulthard. Smiling white woman with silver hair, blue eyes and a green cardigan.

Catherine Coulthard – Strategic Director    (she / her)

As Strategic Director, Catherine enables Prism Arts to achieve our ambitions and goals. Catherine has worked in the arts and cultural sector for over 20 years with a mission to always strive for equality of access to the arts.

Outside of Prism, Cath loves being outdoors, walking the dog with her husband Mark, riding horses and enjoying our beautiful Cumbrian countryside.  She is very much a family person and is entertained, frustrated and charmed in equal measure by her 2 sons, Jacob and Stanley who are live in Newcastle and London. She is a committed audience member for cultural events including theatre and art galleries and a big reader of novels.  

 

Emma Turner. Smiling white woman with long light brown hair.

Emma Turner – Communications Lead & Facilitator Artist    (she / her)

Emma has two job roles at Prism Arts. As Communications Lead, she oversees our social media pages, website and marketing. Emma also leads our community fundraising activity, giving advice to those who wish to raise money for our charity. As Facilitator Artist, Emma supports our artists and the running of Studio Arts and Studio Focus.

Outside of Prism, Emma is an avid fan of Dungeons & Dragons, playing in a group with her friends whenever they can wrangle their schedules. She enjoys creating artwork inspired by fantasy and nature, as well as spend time with her family and two rescue cats.

 

Jane Dudman – Creative Programme Director    (she / her)

As Creative Programme Director, Jane oversees our entire programme with a focus on creative development, ambition and innovation. Jane supports project evaluation and reflection, ensuring participant experience informs future projects so that we can work as inclusively as possible. 

Jac Ridley – Facilitator Artist   (she / her)

Jac is a facilitator artist in Studio Focus, supporting participant artists in group and 1-2-1 settings as well as lead artist Katie in the running of the programme. Jac has worked with Prism Arts in many community projects, delivering workshops to schools across our local area. 

Jac is also a Qi Gong practitioner and exhibiting landscape artist, inspired by Cumbria’s iconic and beautiful scenery.

Katie Lock – Visual Lead Artist   (she / her)

Katie is our Visual Lead Artist, organising and delivering Studio Arts, Studio Lift-off and Studio Focus to our artists. She creates inclusive programmes of work which explore a wide range of creative mediums and subjects. Additionally, Katie runs Prism Arts Gallery, ensuring our artist’s work is shared and celebrated. As Visual Lead, Katie is always on the hunt for more exhibiting opportunities, commissions and community projects for our artists to be involved in.

Outside of Prism Arts, Katie is an artist who is inspired by abstraction, psychedelia and mysticism. You can check out her work on her website. Otherwise Katie enjoys foraging, cycling and gardening.

 

Rebecca Moss – Facilitator Artist   (she/ her)

Rebecca is a facilitator artist in Studio Lift-Off, supporting participant artists in group and 1-2-1 settings, as well as Lead Artist Katie in the running of the programme. Additionally, Rebecca is currently working with Prism Artists Catherine and Michael in the Transforming Leadership project, an initiative by Access All Areas which aims to provide training for LDA individuals to take part in leadership roles within organisations.

Rebecca Hamilton. Smiling white woman with long auburn hair and blue eyes.

Rebecca Bloxham – Participant Support Lead  (she/ her)

Rebecca works closely with our participants and their support networks to give them the best experience at Prism Arts, ensuring they are fully supported on their journey with us.

Outside of Prism Arts, Rebecca enjoys watching live theatre, particularly musicals. Rebecca has a cocker spaniel at home called Bailey and enjoys taking him for walks in her spare time.

Steve Telford – Finance & Operations Manager  (he/ him)

Steve manages all of Prism Arts’ finances, as well as managing our building and staff policies to ensure we are always working in a safe environment. Outside of Prism Arts, Steve’s main interest is messing about on boats, supplemented by cycling, fishing (though he says he hasn’t been very successful so far) and military history which includes painting figures and models and wargaming.

Our Board of Trustees

Ian Chapman. Smiling white man with grey hair and beard.

Ian Chapman – Chair of the Board   (he/ him)

Ian is Chair of our trustee board, which means he is responsible for and represents the board as they work with Prism Arts to implement the charity’s direction and strategy. Ian has over 30 years experience in further education, working recently as a course leader at the University of Cumbria’s Aspiring Leader’s programme – a degree aimed at young adults involved in the Third Sector.

Outside of work, Ian’s passion is creative writing and he now delivers writing classes through Lakeland Writers. When not writing, he spends time on the Cumbrian Fells or making some noise with Drum Nation, a Kendal-based community samba-reggae band.

White woman with long red hair

Jennifer Gilbert – Trustee   (she/ her)

Jennifer is a member of our Board of Trustees. She is a Manchester-based gallerist, freelance producer, and curator, working with self-taught, disabled, neurodivergent, Deaf and overlooked artists. In 2017, she launched the Jennifer Lauren Gallery to showcase and empower artists internationally, having previously managed a national arts charity for under-represented artists.

Outside of Prism Arts, Jennifer enjoys Lindy Hop dancing whenever she gets the time. She also likes to watch contemporary dance at the theatre and other small productions with interesting story lines. Jennifer likes to go walking in the countryside, feeling at her happiest at the seaside!

Smiling white woman with short auburn hair.

Sarah McGrath –  Trustee   (she/ her)

Sarah is a member of our Board of Trustees. Sarah has worked in the Further Education sector for over 20 years. Initially a lecturer of Adult Skills for Life and within the Arts sector she has since held management and leadership roles at all levels. With her background in further education she has a real passion for widening participation and raising aspirations for our artists.

Sarah also enjoys many outdoor ventures such as cycling, running, paddleboarding and – more recently – surfing!

Smiling white man with blonde, windswept hair and glasses

Sonny Smith – Trustee   (he/ him)

Sonny is a member of our Board of Trustees. He is the current director of Always Another Way CIC and has been the director of several charities from finance to lead researcher. Sonny has a degree in economics and is an experienced researcher, having delivered research projects by companies who operate under Sellafield and the NDA.

Outside of work, Sonny enjoys reading poetry in the Lake District or at the seafront near his house. Sonny also loves horror games!

A white lady smiling brightly with dark rimmed glasses

Tracy Hayes – Trustee   (she/ her)

Tracy is a member on our Board of Trustees. She has over 20 years experience as a youth and community worker, eventually moving to Higher Education in 2012 and is now a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at Plymouth Marjon University in Devon. Tracy embraces utilises creative, playful and narrative approaches to research, for example, using stories and toys. She aims to make her work as accessible as possible and avoid the use of technical jargon or overly academic language.

Outside of work, Tracey loves wildlife watching and walking, especially in woodlands, being fascinated by trees since childhood.

A white man leaning comfortably against a window frame. Vincent Walden of Studio Walden.

Vincent Walden – Vice Chair of the Board  (he/ him)

Vincent is the Vice Chair of our Board of Trustees. He is also Director and Graphic Designer at Studio Walden. Studio Walden is a sustainable eco-friendly design studio that produces works through renewable processes and materials. The business was set up with the aim of tackling pollution in modern business and allowed for greater avenues of sustainability, starting with only providing printed works on recycled papers to becoming completely carbon positive

Outside of work, Vincent can often be found upon a hill, failing to climb a big rock or perhaps pestering a cat somewhere in the street. In all cases, snacks will be near by!