Islington is a creative powerhouse; arts and culture are at its heart. We want to harness and promote the energy and ideas of the creative sector, building meaningful networks that enable the borough's organizations and individuals to fulfill their creative potential.
At Creative Islington it's taking part that counts – we'll grow and flourish in direct proportion to the involvement and activities of our members. We're more interested in being told than doing the telling; we want to make sure that the creative connections that are the lifeblood of the community are encouraged and strengthened.
We're proud of the diversity and quality of the area's creative output and we want to shout about it. As well as providing a forum for sharing ideas and resources, Creative Islington also wants to ensure that residents and visitors have the information they need to make the most of what Islington has to offer.
Funded by Islington Council, Creative Islington is an independent, not for profit company limited by guarantee.
Creative Islington is run by a board made up of key representatives from the creative sector.
Anthony has worked with the Pleasance for over 20 years and has been director since 2005. Anthony has also worked with Cheek by Jowl, the National Theatre and Glynis Henderson Productions as associate producer for STOMP and Ennio Marchetto worldwide. Anthony is on the board of directors for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, The National Student Drama Festival, and as an advisor for Just for Laughs UK.
Fotene is currently working for the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in North London and is on the advisory committee for the Hornsey Road Baths Project. Born and bred in Islington, after gaining a BA in Fashion Design she was a fashion designer for four years, before changing careers and working for ILEA/Islington Council Youth Services as a tutor for 15 years. Since 2000 Fotene has worked on a variety of programmes and projects, in roles such as Positive Activities for Young People programme manager and Islington Education Week project coordinator. She has also worked as a freelance event coordinator and in creative programme development and outreach for young people.
Anne Langford has spent most of the last ten years working in theatre as a producer, performer and creative learning practitioner. She has worked for a local authority and a range of organisations, from tiny touring companies to large theatres including The Old Vic and The Almeida. Anne is a founder member of Likely Story theatre and a governor of William Davis Primary School in Tower Hamlets.
Harry is managing director of Freeport Records and founder of the Urban Collective project. Over the past 20 years he has worked in the music and entertainment business and in the 1990s created many after-hours nightclubs including Gaia in Bristol and Divine Culture in Los Angeles. In 1999, Harry graduated from Imperial College London with an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He went on to join an Internet development agency and oversaw the company's music and entertainment strategy until its PLC acquisition in 2001. Harry then formed Freeport as a hybrid artist management company and record label and created the Urban Collective Project in 2004. Harry is also a visiting lecturer in Music Business at City University London.
Ruth Robinson is the Coordinator of Rowan Arts. She is a board member of Scarabeus Theatre Company. She is a qualified psychoanalyst and worked in social research prior to working in the arts. She moved to London from Ireland in 1998.
Councillor Ruth Polling is Islington Council's Executive Member for Leisure and Equalities including the arts and cultural sector. She represents the Leader of the Council on the board. Ruth has been a councillor for four years and an Executive Member for three years. In this time she has led on the creation of the Cultural Services Division within the Council, the relaunch of Creative Islington and the Islington Council Cultural Strategy. Ruth is passionate about increasing access to culture for all of Islington's communities and ensuring that all residents gain benefits from Islington's vibrant cultural sector.
Richard has worked in the arts for almost 20 years. He has given money away (for Arts & Business and The Foyle Foundation amongst others) and asked for it (for Various Voices, a pan-European LGBT choral festival at the Southbank Centre in May this year, and now for National Youth Theatre). He was a member of the advisory panel for Art on the Underground from 2004 to 2006 and has sung with the London Gay Men's Chorus at the Barbican, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Cadogan Hall, and in Paris, Helsinki and Turin.
James is a marketing professional with skills in partnership development, communications and event management. Having worked in cultural organisations James has a firsthand understanding and empathy with the sector. He now heads up marketing and communications for Prevista, leading Islington-based specialists in economic, social and cultural regeneration.
Mary has been working in the independent arts sector for over 30 years, creating, curating and commissioning work. A native of Northern Ireland, her career began in Belfast in the late seventies where she co-founded Northern Ireland's first, cross-community arts organisation, Neighbourhood Open Workshops. Engagement with this sector has continued. More recently, in Cork, Ireland, she initiated successful pilot programmes for older people (OPID), in association with Green Candle dance company, and also for young people at risk of becoming long-term unemployed.
Mary has worked at the level of policy and strategic development, serving the Dance Council of Ireland and on a five-year term as a member of the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. Latterly, she has provided strategic and artistic direction for dance in Plymouth and Woking. Internationally, in preparation for Cork's European Capital of Culture tenure in 2005, Mary initiated and ran a festival over three years that brought together artists from Europe, Africa and Canada. Mary has worked on a range of EU-funded programmes and in 2004 was a co-founder of the European Dancehouse Network (EDN), which she continues to be an active contributor to.