Who We Are
The Future Arts Centres’ team consists of the following team and voluntary Board
Gavin Barlow
Co-Director and Board Member
Gavin is Co-Director and co-founder of Future Arts Centres.
He was Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the Albany in Deptford, South East London for over twenty years until 2025, transforming it from an under-used community resource into a highly successful arts centre and cultural hub. From 2013, the organisation also managed Deptford Lounge, a new £25million cultural and community hub with a library, on behalf of Lewisham Council, and the Canada Water Theatre on behalf of Southwark Council. He is currently Capital Project Director for the venue.
Gavin was also Director of We Are Lewisham 2022, the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture, and has advised on major national initiatives including the Family Arts Campaign and local cultural strategies. He was formerly Executive Director at Contact Manchester, Executive Producer of ATC (Actors Touring Company), and a founder Director of the Queer Up North Festival.
Annabel Turpin
Co-Director and Board Member
Annabel is Chief Executive of Storyhouse in Chester, one of the country’s largest arts centres, and Co-Director of Future Arts Centres. In December 2023, she was appointed as North Area Council Chair and National Council member of Arts Council England.
In her previous role as CEO and Artistic Director of ARC in Stockton on Tees, Annabel established the venue as a leading North East arts organisation with national and international influence. She founded Venues North, developing best practice through a network of venues supporting artists making new work, and produced and toured new theatre work nationally and internationally.
Prior to her 15 years at ARC, she was Director of Norden Farm Centre for the Arts in Maidenhead from 2002-2008.
Christine Lee
Administrative Director
Christine is Administrative Director and brings extensive experience from roles at arts centres including General Manager at The Exchange, North Shields and Project Manager at Farnham Maltings. She was also trustee of Applecart Arts in Newham and General Manager at Entelechy Arts. She is a producer (Senior Producer for Theatre of Wandering for Coventry City of Culture) and freelance organisational consultant (Family Arts Campaign). Prior to working in the arts, Christine qualified as a chartered accountant and was tax manager at Deloitte LLP.
Sophie McKenna
Executive Support
Sophie provides Executive Support for Future Arts Centres as well as the Our Freedom: Then and Now programme.
Louise Wilkin
Social Media Support
In addition to a part-time role providing social sedia and website support for Future Arts Centres, Louise works for Sunderland City Council as Audience Development Officer for Culture House Sunderland, a brand-new cultural venue due to open later this year. Prior to joining Culture House she was Audience Development Coordinator, and then held the role of Deputy Marketing Manager, at ARC Stockton Arts Centre in the Tees Valley.
Daniel Brine
Board Member
Daniel Brine is Artistic Director & Chief Executive of Norfolk & Norwich Festival, the world’s oldest single-city arts festival.
Previously Daniel led Cambridge Junction (2012-17) and Performance Space (2009-11), Australia’s leading organisation for interdisciplinary arts. He was Associate Director of the Live Art Development Agency (2001-08). Daniel is a member of the Norfolk and Suffolk Culture Board; UK Ambassador for IN SITU the European platform for artistic creation in public space; and a Special Envoy working with In Between Time and pvi collective to reimage sustainable international artistic exchange.
Alison Clark
Board Member
Alison has a 30-year career in culture & place leadership and is currently Director of Culture, Visitor Economy & Sport at East Midlands Combined County Authority.
Previously she worked with local and combined authorities in the north east, leading ambitious sport, leisure and tourism infrastructure and place branding projects. She spent 15 years with Arts Council England, latterly as North West Director and National Director, Combined Arts. She is a fellow of the DeVos Institute of Global Arts Management at the University of Maryland, an advisory board member for What Next, the national movement to debate and shape the future of UK arts and culture.
Jane Earl
Board Member
Jane is the chair of Thirteen Group, M&G Shared Ownership Limited, and Surrey Choices.
Jane works with a number of arts organisations and those providing services to young people and refugees. She is the independent chair of Sunderland Culture, reflecting her upbringing in the North East of England. Her executive career was in Local and Central government, and she now lives in London where she is engaged with a number of community organisations