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Board Profiles

Les Bicknell

The role of the artist continues to evolve from that of an outsider, a maker of iconic monoliths to one of inclusion, a democratic service, and a conduit for society. This changing role has at its core a need for the re-examination and deconstruction of the role of an artist in society – one of communication, lateral thinking and problem solving. An understanding and utilization of these roles is at the core of my position as an artist, consequently I have become increasingly interested in the structure and processes that are developed to make objects or resolve problems - the creative process itself.

Charlotte Cane

Charlotte Cane is a Chartered Accountant, working as the Finance Director for the Forestry Commission England. Charlotte was a District Councillor for 6 years, for 3 of which she was Council Leader. She was Finance Officer for Eastern Arts Board for 2 years during which time she gave financial training, advice and support to a range of individual artists and arts organisations.

Roger Estop

Roger Estop is a town planner and urban designer. As urban design manager for Chelmsford Borough Council he is engaged in development guidance, town centre planning, conservation and public space enhancement. Previously he worked for boroughs of Redbridge and Islington. He is the planning expert for Grand Designs magazine. He is a photographer and furniture designer.

Brenda Ferris

Brenda Ferris, a Norwich City Councillor since 1979, has a broad experience of arts policy at a national, regional and local level, including chairing the region's Local Government Arts Forum, and acting as Shadow Cultural spokesperson on her own authority. She's also been involved with the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society, East Anglia Art Fund, and Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, plus serving on Norfolk's Joint Museums Committee.

Diane Maclean

Diane Maclean is a sculptor and environmental artist of Scottish descent, with degrees in Fine Art and Modern Languages.

She has won many public art commissions and her work has been exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. She has attended many sculpture symposiums in other countries and is co-organiser of Look-Look which promotes contacts between artists in Scotland with artists in other European countries.

Much of her recent work has resulted from collaborations with scientists in the fields of climatic change, mineralogy and medicine. Her most recent exhibition was at the Natural History Museum, London.  

Gerry O’Keeffe (Chair)

Gerry O'Keeffe is the Director of Customer Support Division at Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations, a large national charity that forms part of the University of Cambridge. Before that he held directorate posts within other successful businesses and charities for a decade or more. He was in charge of marketing at Eastern Arts Board earlier still, where he worked closely with the visual and media arts community at local, regional and national level. He is a keen collector of contemporary art and has helped curate and present community cultural events.

Vicky Smith

Vicky Smith qualified as an architect from Cambridge University in 1980 and has worked in Bristol, Bath and London, before moving back to Cambridge in the 1990’s.

Her interests have always been on the creative rather than the business side of architecture. She is particularly interested in contemporary art issues and Public Art, and believes in cross disciplinary working, seeing the boundaries between “art” and “architecture” (and indeed between different branches of art practice) as fluid and indistinct.

She is a Director of Stride Design, a web design company that specialises in delivering information in a variety of media about buildings, cities and cultural heritage.