Board

Jon has over 30 years of experience in the construction and property development industry. An engineer by training, Jon qualified as a Chartered Civil Engineer in 1992 before transitioning into the property development sector, working with various organisations prior to joining Stoford in 2003.

Jon managed the day-to-day running of the Stoford Group of companies until 2012 when he stepped down from his role as managing director to allow him to pursue interests in the arts sector.  In 2015, Jon co-founded Public Artist Limited, an organisation focused on supporting the arts and public engagement. Jon became a trustee of Grand Union in the same year.

Jon now lives in the Scottish Borders and is studying Contemporary Art Practice at Edinburgh College.

Faisal Hussain is an Artist who graduated from Falmouth Art College in 1999. His portfolio of work spans public art, film, sculpture, audio, and text art. His artwork is part of permanent collections in the Manchester Art Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, and Urban Nation, Berlin. Currently, he is archiving one of the largest south asian record collections in the UK and creating and curating new works as part of a 3-year-long project funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund. Recently, this work has been on BBC 6 Music, The Guardian, Vinyl Factory and at the Manchester Museum’s new South Asia Gallery.

Diandra is an Arts Producer from Birmingham passionate about creating provocative and engaging participatory arts experiences, especially for young people along with underrepresented and socially disadvantaged communities. A musician and former Music Teacher, Diandra recently was Lead Producer of the Birmingham 2022 Neighbourhood Festival Sites, part of the Commonwealth Games cultural programme. She currently works for Birmingham Opera Company as Creative Producer.

Rob is Bruntwood’s regional lead for Yorkshire and the West Midlands – supporting the development of thriving cities including Leeds and Birmingham.

Drawing on more than 20 years’ experience within Bruntwood, Rob specialises in facilitating collaboration between the private sector, local authorities, research institutions, and universities to create world-class innovation districts and drive strategic growth.

George Vasey is a curator, writer, and academic with over 15 years’ experience working across exhibitions and learning departments in museums and galleries. He has curated over 50 projects, with a particular emphasis on access and inclusion. His writing on contemporary art has been widely published in magazines and books.

George is currently Senior Lecturer in Curating at Teesside University, where he contributes to the delivery of postgraduate and apprenticeship programmes in curating. He has dedicated his career to supporting artists across institutional and alternative platforms and is a member of AICA-UK, with over a decade of experience serving as a trustee.

Merle is a partner at Fieldfisher, an international law firm with offices in Birmingham. Merle specialises in real estate development. She was previously on the board and chair of DancExchange based at the Hippodrome.