Skip To Main Content

Board

A landscape image of a group of people standing within a bright office space. A record player is placed on a table in front of the group and the wall is covered with framed images.

Junction Works offices opening, Birmingham. Image by David Rowan, 2019.

Board of Trustees

A portrait image of a person smiling towards the camera. They have a shaved head and short white beard, and they wear a navy blue and white patterned jumper.

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.

A portrait image of a person wearing a checkered blouse. The person smiles towards the camera, their shoulder length dark brown hair is parted down the middle.
Sophie Colley has over ten years of experience working in Arts marketing. Sophie started her career in the West Midlands working for Dudley Museum Services, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, and Culture Coventry before moving to the National Portrait Gallery, London. She recently oversaw the digital communications strategy and campaign for the NPG’s major refurbishment project ‘Inspiring People’, and subsequent 2023 reopening.

A portrait image of a seated person wearing dark clothes, with short dark hair. The person appears to be mid-way through speaking, and has one hand raised slightly, gesturing to their speech.

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 GuardianVinyl Factory and at the Manchester Museum’s new South Asia Gallery.

A square image of a person standing on a Juliet-style balcony, leaning onto the railing. The balcony sits within an archway tiled in white and dark green. The person smiles widely, looking downwards towards the camera, their dark brown hair reaches their shoulders.
Danielle is a Creative Producer, experienced in participation, engagement and public realm activity, and passionate about social change through creativity.
Danielle has delivered programmes for Circulate, a Strategic Touring programme of outdoor work delivered across Outer London, The Albany and Battersea Arts Centre, where she was Producer: Next Gen, encompassing a year-round programme of work with Young People and local communities.

Most recently Danielle has been in post as Co-Creative Producer of Balsall Heath’s Living Room, a NLHF funded third space pilot at Moseley Road Baths and Producer of Creative Participation for Birmingham 2022 Festival.

A portrait image of a person looking directly at the camera with a wide smile. The person wears large hoop earrings and has black and purple braids pushed to one side of their face.

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.

A portrait image of a person wearing a white fluffy cardigan and turtleneck in front of a plain white wall. The person has long dark hair with a slight wave to it, and smiles directly at the camera.

Sukhy Nijjar currently works as a Senior Policy Advisor for the Mayor of the West Midlands. Prior to joining the private offie, she had a career in Investment Banking and previously ran her own business.

She has a Masters in Investment Management from Bayes Business School in London. She spent her investment banking career working in Global Markets for various institutions, specialising in Corporate FX Sales for FTSE 100 clients. She left the city of London, returning to the west Midlands to se up and run her own business before joining the Mayoral team in September 2020.

An image of a person standing against a plain, pale wall, front on to the camera. The person has short, dark, curly hair and wears glasses and large hoop earrings. They have folded arms with bright red nail varnish.

Joyce Treasure is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores the hidden dimensions of mythology and ritual, examining how changing climates and colonial legacies exert on bodies, places, and overall well-being. Navigating the intersection of politics, care, and satire, she transforms assemblages of objects and images into allegories of lived experiences. In her work, tactile materials act as collaborators and agents that intersect with the written word to explore opposing environments of power and vulnerability as psychological and sociological landscapes.

She graduated with a BA Hons, first class degree, in Black Studies from Birmingham City University in 2020. Her work has been shown internationally, including 198 Contemporary Gallery, London (2023); Lapworth Museum, Birmingham (2022 / 2021); Stryx Gallery, Birmingham (2022); Grand Union, Birmingham (2020); Tate, Liverpool (2018); Selfridges, Birmingham (2018); Lovely Gallery, London (2016); Sacred Art, Wales (2016);  Peckham Space, London (2012); Kijkruimte, Amsterdam, (2012); Deptford X, London (2012); Space Station Sixty Five, London (2010); Mediamatic BANK Amsterdam, Amsterdam (2008); ICA, London (2007).

A landscape image of a person wearing a grey cardigan, pale shirt, and glasses leaning on a tall white tabletop. A small stack of colourful books sit on the table next to the person, and blue neon signs are visible in the background.

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.

A portrait image of a person sitting in front of a well-stocked bookshelf, smiling towards the camera. The person has wavy blond hair that falls just past their shoulders, and wears a colour-blocked wooly jumper in earthy tones and a bright white wristwatch.
Alex White is Director at Cecilia Brunson Projects, a London-based gallery whose mission since 2013 has been to increase visibility for often overlooked artists predominantly from Latin America. She brings a passion for supporting artists and experience fundraising for non-profit arts organisations, having previously held development roles at Tate, Gasworks, and Chisenhale Gallery.

Dorothy Wilson MBE, FRSA, D. Litt, D.Univ, FWU

Dorothy was educated in Northumberland, Wales and Scotland. She is a singer, vocal coach and string player.

In her early career she spent 14 years at West Midlands Arts, seven years as deputy director, working across a range of art forms. From 1990 till 2016 she was Artistic Director and CEO of Midlands Arts Centre (MAC). She now runs her own bespoke consultancy focusing on organisational development and change in the cultural sector. In the 2000s she chaired the West Midlands regional Arts Council and served on the national board of Arts Council England.

Dorothy is a very experienced trustee and board member and currently chairs the boards of Grand Union, Making Music, and the Independent Cinema Office.

A portrait image of a person smiling directy to the camera. The person has a short, light brown pixie cut and wears a turquoise blue blazer.

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.

Past board members

Richard Davies
Judith Harry
Elizabeth Hawley
Matt Higginbottom
Mat Jenner
Harminder Judge (GU Founder)
Karin Kihlberg (GU Founder)
Mitra Memarzia
Elinor Morgan
Jigisha Patel
Simon Poulter
Lara Ratnaraja
Alex Reynolds
David Rowan
Elizabeth Rowe
Kate Self
Helen Stallard
David Thomas (GU Founder)
Matt Westbrook (GU Founder)
Stuart Whipps (GU Founder)