Arts Derbyshire is supported by a team of trustees. The Arts Derbyshire board of trustees’ work supports our goal of enriching people’s lives through the arts. As well as supporting Derbyshire’s art scene through Arts Derbyshire, our trustees also have personal links to the creative sector, with many of them being artists themselves. Although you may have read about our trustees already here, in this series we want to introduce you to each Arts Derbyshire Trustee and let them tell you about their story and relationship with the Derbyshire arts scene.
In this article, we would like to introduce you to our Trustee Daniel Oakley.
Daniel Oakley is the Community Arts Development Officer for Bolsover District Council. His role is to grow and develop opportunities for all types of creative projects for and with the people of the district of Bolsover which includes the towns of Clowne, South Normanton, Shirebrook and Bolsover. A keen Musician and Visual Artist, Daniel has been involved in various creative arts and young people’s projects across the whole of Derbyshire in many roles from participant through to project co-ordinator over the last 25 years.
“Arts and the benefits of being involved in creative activity are important to the growth, vitality and confidence of a community. Arts is a language and everyone should have the opportunity to have their say within it.”
As a young person I started a lifelong interest in music and by becoming a part of a youth music project and recording studio in the county back in the late 1990’s I began my journey as a participant, volunteer, part-time worker and eventually working full time as a Youth Worker for Derbyshire County Council Youth Service. Alongside this I worked and toured across Europe as a sound engineer and stage technician through the contacts I had met as a young person on the arts projects.
I came to realise that it was the working with people I loved more than the performing and ‘being on the road’ aspects of the music business. In my Thirties I went to university as an adult learner to study for a post-graduate degree in youth and community studies and this really helped me see the worth in the strategic side of developing opportunities in the arts for both young people and communities alike.
My work in Bolsover since 2017 had been a journey of discovery in terms of how communities can grow, sustain and thrive when the creative arts is embedded around people’s everyday lives. I believe all the communities of Derbyshire (and beyond) should have the opportunity to be creative.
When I was asked to become a trustee of Arts Derbyshire, I felt it was the right organisation, platform (and people of course!) to develop the strategic overview, find and fill the gaps and ultimately amplify the arts for the people of Derbyshire. I have seen this happen on many occasions through the work and partnerships Arts Derbyshire has grown in the last years and hope that the work I do in one area of Derbyshire as the ‘day job’ can serve as a template, learning opportunity or inspiration to creativity for others. Art is activity as we say here in Bolsover and activity is good for everyone.
Visit our Meet the Trustees page here for an overview of our board. Follow our Introducing Our Trustees series to find out more about each individual Trustee’s story and what Arts Derbyshire means to them.
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