Trustees

Myfanwy joined the Board in December 2018. She has a career in public finance, in local and regional government, and was Managing Director of Corporate Services at the House of Commons. She is a qualified accountant and brings significant experience of financial strategy, people leadership and engagement, business planning, performance and risk management, and project delivery. Myfanwy is also a non-executive Director at Ocean Housing in St Austell and  a Trustee of The Photographers’ Gallery in London, where she chairs the Finance and General Purposes Committee. She is passionate about art, and is studying art history in her spare time, with the emphasis on modernism.

Miranda has been Chair of our Board of Trustees since April 2017. Her career has spanned roles in both the private sector, working for the world’s largest marketing communications company, Omnicom, and the public sector, specifically Culture, in Cornwall. Currently she is Head of Development for an international advertising network called PHD.

She is a strong advocate of the importance of the visual arts in Cornwall, given its long history in the county, and its record of positive impact on the community both economically and socially. For her, the fact that Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange is one of just two visual arts NPOs in Cornwall means that it has a lot of responsibility not only for its own fortune but that of the sector in Cornwall. She believes it is crucial for the huge numbers of visual artists resident in Cornwall, as well as local audiences to have access to the international standard work shown at both our venues.

Cornishman Bert was appointed by Cornwall Council to be its representative on the Board. Bert has a long association with the development of the creative industries sector in Cornwall, and is a Bard of Gorsedh Kernow (his real name is Vyager gans Geryow). He is a songwriter, poet, raconteur and performer, and as he freely admits, 5’6″ and overweight!

Ginny is an art historian, writer and academic, with expertise in modern and contemporary British Art and has worked with art and artists for more than 35 years. She was formerly a curator at Tate Britain (1991-2001), curating the Turner Prize from 1993 to 1998, before moving to Cornwall with a young family in 2001. She then held a number of roles at Falmouth University, notably as Head of Art, and Director of Falmouth School of Art (2010-18). Ginny values education as a form of empowerment believing that access to art education and art practice promotes social mobility, future employability skills for young people, and enables fulfilled lives. She is delighted to bring her curatorial knowledge and management skills to the Board to support the important role of the gallery in delivering great art experiences for audiences in Cornwall.

Bethia was elected to the Board in December 2018. She is a marketing consultant based in Cornwall, helping brands to deliver meaningful communication concepts and reach their audiences. She has more than ten years’ international experience working for a variety of clients, from book publishing houses and charities, to digital agencies and creative businesses, and holds an MA in Communication Design from Falmouth University. On a personal note, Bethia studied at Penwith College in Penzance and is passionate about the gallery’s work in engaging local young people with the visual arts.

Neil was elected to the Board in early 2017 and is our Vice-Chair and Secretary. He is deeply interested in the visual arts, particularly within West Cornwall where he also chairs the Tate St Ives Members Committee and sits on the Tate St Ives Advisory Council. He is also Chair of the Trustees at St Ives School of Painting.

He strongly believes that art is the best language to explore and articulate our place in the world, more so now than ever, and hopes that his involvement with Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange can help others find the language to tell their own stories.

His career spanned nearly thirty years in retail management and a dozen years developing and managing Business Improvement Districts in Reading and Truro. Neil lives in St Ives with his family and is an active explorer of the landscapes, coast paths and the ocean. He writes, collects things, makes stuff and believes in magic.