Background & History
Tim Harris worked for Nottinghamshire County Council for 14 years, including for 7 years as Head of Arts, until 2004. He has wide experience of local Authority cultural development, and his work with the County Council involved developing new creative initiatives and partnerships addressing social inclusion, young people and the creative industries. He developed the Council Arts Service to a total team of 34, working with a range of strategic, community and professional arts partners. He has been responsible for building in investment for cultural programmes from a variety of sources, including ERDF Objective 2 funds for the development of cultural tourism to “rebrand” the former Nottinghamshire Coalfield area as a place of cultural vitality. This approach incorporated capital development, the development of markets, networks and training for the creative industry sector, attracting major international artists to the region, and local community regeneration through creative activity.
Consultancy Work
As a consultant, he has worked for a number of Local Authorities on projects ranging from arts and health, development of a local Arts Strategy, Local Area Agreements, and creative industry development/audit . He has also worked with ACE, East Midlands, to advocate for the impact of arts and health on LAAs across the East Midlands.
He has also advocated for the role of culture in economic development, environmental agendas, and as a contributor to social inclusion and quality of life issues. He has extensive experience in rural arts development, including as director of a market town arts centre and rural touring schemes, and has developed voluntary sector input into cultural programmes.
Apart from his work with Local Authorities, Tim has also worked with a number of independent organisations over the last 2 years, on capacity-building, fundraising, and developing an arts strategy.
Tim has a special interest in International Collaborations.
He is also an experienced Project Manager, and can develop creative programmes to suit specific briefs, including fundraising from the public sector, recruiting and contracting artists to deliver, evaluation and accountability. He has experience of programming for festivals, site-specific spectaculars, and for small and middle-scale venues and can plan corporate entertainment events with a popular and accessible programme.
addressing Newark Business Club as part of Economic Impact Study, 2007.
Boards of Management
Tim has been a Board member of a number of regional arts organisations, including a regional theatre company, disability arts organization, city-based repertory theatre and a market town arts centre.
He is currently:
Chair of City Arts, a participatory arts programme for inner-city Nottingham which works in arts and young people, creative studios, arts and health and diversity projects and on the Board of Southwell Artspace, a new creative studio space for emerging artists in a Notts market town.
with Mayor of Nottingham, and participants at
City Arts 30th birthday party, Dec 07.