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 writer and educator Matt Black.
Matt Black writes, reads and performs poetry for both adults and children, as well as occasionally plays and short fiction. He was Derbyshire Poet Laureate in 2011-2013, during which his commissions included working with the Sinfonia Viva Orchestra as well as having his poetry etched into glass for Ashbourne Library and carved into 12 milestones across Derbyshire.
In addition to working on his own writing, he has helped inspire creativity in others through his work in schools and with community groups, including being the Creative Writing Course Director at the University of Sheffield and the Creative Director of Signposts, an Arts Council regularly funded organisation that aims to develop writers of all ages and backgrounds.
In his own words: “I have previously worked in the arts in Derbyshire, and know a lot of the work that Arts Derbyshire do, and see them as an inspiring and brilliant model of how an arts organisation can, through long-term commitment and care, develop artists, offer important activities to diverse communities, and become a highly significant player in the culture of a County.”
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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