WHO WE ARE
The Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees and managed day to day by a small staff team. We are also fortunate to enjoy the support of an active team of volunteers.
Our Team
To contact any of the staff team please email: info@sidneynolantrust.org
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Sophie Heath: Director
Sophie provides overall strategic leadership and development for the Trust.
She has 17 years’ experience of leading varied cultural sites and collections in the West Midlands. Most recently she was Director of the Museum of Royal Worcester, and spent 9 years at Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage where she led an Arts Council-funded contemporary craft programme.
Born in Scotland to Australian parents, Sophie has dual citizenship and went to high school and university in Canberra. She has a BSc in Chemistry and a BA Hons in Art History from the Australian National University, and an MA in the History of Design from the Royal College of Art/V&A.
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Antony Mottershead: Curator & Creative Producer
Antony develops and manages our creative programmes, exhibitions, learning, and collections and archive.
He trained in Fine Art Photography and has worked in the arts & cultural sector for over 10 years. Previously he was Arts Development Officer for Orkney Islands Council, and helped develop Forestry England's national arts programme Forest Art Works. He is a Clore Emerging Leader and an Engage Cymru Council Member.
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Charlie Minskip: Business Support Manager
Charlie supports the Sidney Nolan Trust across the areas of marketing and administration as well as managing our cottage reservations. He is originally from New Zealand and has combined his passion for travel with a varied and fruitful career. His work has included managing a professional theatre, international travel consultancy, Polytechnic lecturer, 3 ½ years onboard cruise ships, as well as owning a boutique wine bar with his wife.
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Kiefer Whitlock: Estate Gardener & Groundsperson
Kiefer manages grounds and gardens, including all areas of maintenance work, as well as managing our team of gardening volunteers.
He studied film and photography at university and now combines his love for art and the natural world in his role here at The Rodd. For many years he has worked as the gardener and groundsman at multiple stately homes in the local area.
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Faith Limbrick: Visitor Services Assistant
Faith works on Saturdays at the Trust looking after visitors. She is an artist who studied Intermedia Art at Edinburgh College of Art, and was artist in residence at the Trust in 2022, where she developed the kitchen garden at The Rodd, now the Presteigne community garden.
Board of Trustees
Prof Peter J Conradi FRSL is an academic and freelance writer. His books include the authorised biography of Dame Iris Murdoch and At the Bright Hem of God:Radnorshire Pastoral. He was a long-time Bleddfa Centre Trustee and for ten years edited The Transactions of the Radnorshire Society. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009.
David Ferry RE is an artist and educator, who studied at the Slade School, University College London. He is a multi-award-winning printmaker with many international exhibitions and works in important national museum collections. David Ferry is Emeritus Professor of Printmaking and Book Arts at the Cardiff Met University Wales, Hon Doctor of Arts and Honorary International Artist at the Federation University in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. He was former Head of Fine Art at the Winchester School of Art and guest professor at the Long Island University in New York. He is currently the 13th President of the Royal Society of Painter/Printmakers in London, formed in 1880. In 2014 David was involved in a life-changing cycling accident, he retired from his academic positions. He established his own studio and has subsequently written and lectured on his experience of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is currently researching Sir Sidney Nolan’s use of unorthodox materials, for the Sidney Nolan Trust.
Alison Giles has worked in arts management, specialising in classical music, with organisations including The Sixteen, The Monteverdi Choir, The Tallis Scholars and Music at Oxford. Now resident in Wales, she produces Presteigne Festival and Brecon Baroque Festival and oversees their community projects. She also works as a consultant in arts and heritage fundraising.
Nicola Kalinsky has had a long and distinguished career as a curator and art historian. She read History and English at Cambridge and received an M.A from the Courtauld Institute of Art. Subsequently, she worked at the Royal Academy, Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. At the SNPG, she curated numerous exhibitions and was part of the director-level team that prepared the successful HLF bid for a £17.6 million transformation of the gallery.
From 2013 to 2022 Nicola was director of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham. Here she established the post-Covid Barber Health programme to support care and retirement home residents. She also forged productive relationships with Midlands institutions, e.g. Birmingham Museums Trust, Ikon Gallery and Compton Verney, as well as initiating and nurturing national and international collaborations.
Nicola believes that the arts have given shape and meaning to her own life and that places such as The Rodd are a force for the good, especially in ever changing and challenging times.
George Littlejohn (Treasurer) is a qualified accountant and former journalist who has been an admirer of Sidney Nolan’s work since his schooldays. He works in the City of London with a global professional body, is passionate about the arts, and splits his time between London, Powys (where he is vice-chair of Black Mountains College), and his native Scotland, where his small grandchildren live and paint.
Ruth Lloyd is a freelance art, culture and heritage consultant based in Mid Wales where she also spent her childhood. Her specialism is bringing artists, communities and organisations together for interpretation and audience development purposes. Professional experience includes the V&A Museum as Residency and Display Co-ordinator; Project Manager for the Exhibition Road Cultural Group, Lead Co-ordinator for the National Arts and Education Network (Wales). Ruth trained in Fine Art and Textiles at Goldsmiths College, and gained an MA in Interpretation and Representation from Leicester University.
Tamara Mascarenhas has worked in marketing and communications for more than ten years. She grew up in Australia and studied management and marketing at the University of South Australia. Since then, she has worked for the Financial Times and the Australian Refugee Association before taking up her present role as communications assistant for Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. There her focus is on digital media, especially social media. As an Australian living in Wales, she is committed to the Trust’s mission to preserve and promote Nolan’s artistic heritage while fostering creativity and education in the arts.
Lucy Trench (Chair) has worked in publishing and in museums, as a conservator, editor, writer and educator, becoming Head of Interpretation at the Victoria and Albert Museum, followed by the same role at the Science Museum. She has an MA in History of Art and Italian from Trinity College, Dublin. She lives in Radnorshire and has family links with Australia, where she has seen many of Sidney Nolan’s greatest works.
Honorary Positions
Lord Lipsey - President
Anthony Plant - Honorary Fellow
Gria Shead - Honorary Fellow