Tag Archives: Trustee
Andrew Bailey
Room 13 International Trustee, 2013 – 2014
Andrew has spent most of his working life in media-related industries. He was a journalist for 15 years, working as the UK Editor of Rolling Stone magazine for 5 years and as a columnist and critic on the Evening Standard for 2 years. During this time, he also worked as a TV presenter. Following a short (and largely unsuccessful) career in the music business, his next move was into advertising, where he worked for many years as a copywriter/creative consultant for a range of agencies. These included TBWA, where he got to know Fiona Clancy and Rod Wright, who introduced him to Room 13. He visited Fort William with them during the early years of Room 13 and met many of the original team.
For the past 15 years, Andrew has run a company called Dialogics, which produces online educational resources for early years, primary and secondary schools. Dialogics also provides specialist training for teachers and other professionals working with so-called “difficult’ young people. Last year, Andrew stepped away from his own company to work on a mixture of freelance and voluntary projects. He is a visiting lecturer in applied social sciences at Goldsmiths and chair of this year’s Dicey Conference at Trinity College, Oxford. Andrew is the author of three books, with co-author Professor Gerard Egan, on principles and practices of dialogue in social and workplace settings. For five years, he was trustee and chair of Pilotlight, a not-for-profit organisation that provides innovative charities with high level business advice to help build their capacity. Andrew is married to Angela, a specialist in digital asset management (something of deep interest to museums and other branches of the arts and heritage industries.) He lives in West London, studied at Exeter University (Maths and Physics), has three grown up children and 8 grandchildren. He sings in a rock choir and plays in a steel band (beginner level.)
To Room 13 International, Andrew brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm.
Dr Iain Colquhoun
Room 13 International Trustee
2009 – 2014
Iain is a self-employed medical and technical writer, currently based in Perthshire, Scotland. Iain spent many years in Nigeria and Uganda during his early career as a wildlife ecologist and livestock specialist, interspersed with several years in charge of various Highland estates and a period of working with Scottish Natural Heritage.
His acute analytical mind and pragmatic approach to problem solving have proved invaluable to Room 13 International. Just as important is his innate understanding of the necessary connections between people and the land, and his experience of working effectively with remote communities.
“Although I have spent much of my life in remote places, my great interest apart from the outdoors has always been in music and the arts. Room 13 has provided me with a wonderful opportunity to further that interest and hopefully provide some support to an organisation that has the potential do a huge amount of good for children across the globe.”
M R Raghavan
Room 13 International Trustee
2010 – 2013
Raghavan is a Chartered Accountant who established a highly successful computer software consulting business in Bombay. Inspired by a period of national service he undertook as a young man, working in slums in Mumbai, he harboured a dream to do something about the vast untapped educational potential among India’s poorest citizens.
With his wife Aruna, he went on to establish The Anugriha Charitable Trust with the intention of evolving and demonstrating alternative educational methods in India.
In 1992 Raghavan and Aruna left Bombay with their small daughter and invested their entire life savings to establish a primary school at Arasavanangkadu, a village of 1500 people in a remote corner of Tamil Nadu.
Shikshayatan School opened in mid-1994 admitting 15 3-year-old children to the first class. All of the children were drawn from low income, scheduled caste families in which they are the first generation to receive any education. Within this community, the Raghavans have spent the last two decades exploring and experimenting with new methods of early childhood education.
In 2004 they met with Room 13 and were inspired by a presentation given by two youngsters from Scotland. Confident by this point in their ability to instil the skills of literacy and numeracy in their pupils, they felt intrigued by an approach to arts education that appeared to sit so comfortably with their own methods. From this point Shikshayatan enthusiastically embraced Room 13. Since then, both Raghavan and Aruna have provided wise council and practical support which continues to aid and motivate the development of Room 13 International.
Phola Tabane
Room 13 International Trustee
2010 – 2013
Phola Tabane is Principal of Sapebuso Primary School, Soweto, one of the first schools in South Africa to adopt Room 13. On a fact finding visit to Scotland in 2006, which she made along with artists and other educators responsible for establishing the Room 13 network in that country, Phola declared Room 13 an unstoppable force that was already changing the lives of children in Africa just one year after its introduction.
As an educator and dedicated figurehead of the community, Phola has been instrumental in the process of instigating a firm foundation for the South African studio network. Her assured reporting of the benefits Room 13 brings to her pupils has gone a long way towards instilling confidence in her staff and those of other schools for whom Room 13 may at first appear a daunting prospect. Her encouragement and pride at her own pupils’ endeavours and support for their Artist in Residence has enabled them to make extra-ordinary achievements in the five years since their studio opened its doors and ensured that they can – in their own words – live their dreams by being a part of Room 13.
“I look forward to continuing and developing Room 13 within our schools as well as building upon its growth and success. It was the greatest honour for me to be selected as one of the Room 13 International board of trustees. My wish is for Room 13 to continue spreading internationally; and that means hard work from all of us.”
Alastair Creamer
Trustee of Room 13 International
2009 – 2013
Alastair is the co-founder of Creamer and Lloyd, a creative consultancy that facilitates training and encourages the application of creative and entrepreneurial processes across business, education and not-for-profit organisations.
Educated as a musician, Alastair has moved through many other creative channels including directing, photography, writing and painting. He has spent 14 years running arts organisations and 11 in business with a stint in the middle as Dean of Faculty for the London College of Music and Media. It was whilst at Unilever that he developed the award-winning Catalyst programme – an in-house creative laboratory for skills training and cultural change.
As trustee to Room 13 International, Alastair brings unparalleled energy and enthusiasm along with a natural inquisitiveness and methodology which has proved perfect for getting to the heart of any matter. His great skill is in his ability to remove obstacles by looking at the issue afresh, unlocking potential and coming up with imaginative solutions.
“I make links between all aspects of my life – for instance I’m only now appreciating my listening skills embedded in me at the age of 8 when I was a chorister at Canterbury Choir School. All the committed young artists I’ve met within the Room 13 studios are also drawing on sources of inspiration from all aspects of their lives even at their age. In some instances this takes courage and an intuitive maturity. They have something really important to say and I think part of my role is to help them say it, and to make sure they’re heard.“
Rob Fairley
Trustee of Room 13 International
2009 – 2012
Rob Fairley held the position of Artist in Residence at Room 13 Caol from 1994 – 2005 and is well known as the founder of Room 13.
After graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 1975, Rob briefly took up residence in Mallaig, before moving to Moidart, where he enjoyed nearly four years as the sole human inhabitant of a remote island. Life on the island enabled him to embrace an exploratory approach to art-making and its effect on the environment, and instilled in him an all encompassing, holistic approach to arts practice, which set the foundation for his career and future work.
His outspoken views on the importance of early arts education and visual literacy landed him in the role of volunteer arts specialist in Acharacle Primary School and it was this experience which led to his being appointed as Artist in Residence at Caol Primary School in 1994.
Now with over 30 years of experience as an artist and educator, Rob has effectively passed on his conviction for fine art and philosophical enquiry as the basis for all education through the international network of Room 13 studios, which have sprung up as the ethos that emanated from Room 13 Caol in the 1990s has been embraced and put into action by schools and communities worldwide.
It is Rob’s ongoing commitment to the principles that landed him in Acharacle Primary all those years ago that he brings forth as a trustee to Room 13 International. Rob remains outspoken but constantly in favour of the many young artists worldwide who strive to uphold the ethos of Room 13 and see its widespread application as essential to the wealth and health of society.