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City Arts appoints Michaela Butter MBE as new chair

Date published: 7 Apr 2021

Posted by: Joe Pick

Michaela Butter

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We are happy to share that Michaela Butter MBE will join the City Arts as Chair of our Board of Trustees. 

Michaela has over 40 years of experience working in the arts as a curator, promoter and funder. She is currently Director of Attenborough Arts Centre, at the University of Leicester, and has previously worked for Nottingham City Council museum service and Arts Council England. In 2013, she was awarded an MBE for her services to the arts. She has lived in Nottingham since 1977.

Despite the impact of COVID-19, over the last year City Arts has been able to mount series of arts initiatives reaching people and communities in Nottingham communities most affected by the pandemic. These include doorstep puppet shows for families in St Ann’s, online dance workshops for older people and a photography course for teenagers with mental health issues. On Friday 1st April 2021, it was announced that the charity had received a grant of £26,00 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund. The funding will help the organisation recover and reopen as lockdown restrictions ease.

Image of doorstep puppet show with banner reading 'We are #HearForCulture'

Michaela Butter takes over the role of Chair from Saira Lloyd, who has been supporting the organisation as a trustee for many years, and has been Interim-Chair since December 2020.

Suzannah Bedford, Director of City Arts, said:

City Arts are delighted to welcome Michaela to the Board. She brings a wealth of expertise in terms of arts sector knowledge and inclusive practice. We give heartfelt thanks as we say farewell to Saira Lloyd, our Vice-Chair and Trustee of many years, who has given so much through her wisdom and commitment. We are also grateful to all of those who have supported us through the last year as funders, partners, artists, participants, Trustees, volunteers and staff. As we begin a new year with Cultural Recovery Fund support, we are confident that our new Chair will ensure a bright future for City Arts, enabling us to continue to make a positive difference for Nottingham and those we serve.

Michaela Butter MBE said:

I am delighted to have been offered the position of Chair at City Arts. For as long as I have lived in Nottingham, City Arts has been offering an outstanding service to local communities, creating opportunities for people to engage in the arts as active participants, no matter what their background or life experience. City Arts has championed so many innovative and ground breaking projects designed to remove barriers to participation in the arts. The charity has supported local people to build skills and confidence through creativity. 

I am proud to be working with a passionate and committed team of staff and other board members as we plan for the future and find ways to support communities as we come out of this terrible pandemic.

Read the story on Charity Today