Executive Director

Clare Lewis

t.

0121 689 3169

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e.

clare.lewis@dancexchange.org.uk

Hailing from Lancaster, I started out in the field of visual arts, with a two-year foundation course in Art and Design at the College of Blackpool and the Fylde; a BA (Hons) in Fine Art at Coventry University, where I specialised in sculpture; and an MA in Art Theory at Warwick University, undertaken as a year of independent research, during which I completed a 40,000 word thesis on the sublime in contemporary installation work, achieving a Distinction.

Following this, I headed off to Brighton, working in administration, finance and business development in the commercial sector for a number of years, including three years as Business Development Executive at Guardian Newspapers in London, working across two publications, Guardian Weekly and Money Observer.

Throughout this period, I kept my interest in the arts alive through voluntary gallery work and writing, mainly art book reviews, for the arts and culture magazine Contemporary. I also contributed to the Guardian’s Corporate Social Responsibility scheme for two years, through a weekly lunchtime book club for year seven girls who did not have English as their first language, which was instrumental in improving their skills and confidence in reading.

Aiming to use my business management experience to benefit the arts, I supplemented my work with a part-time diploma in Arts Management at Birkbeck College in London, and subsequently moved to Birmingham in 2003 to take up my current position at DanceXchange. I’ve been pleased to play a key role in the organisation’s significant growth and development over the past few years, and to take on the new and interesting challenges this has offered me – most recently as Festival Manager for International Dance Festival Birmingham, and as a Director of Dance TV, dx’s budding new joint venture with Maverick Television.