HELEN MARRIAGE, Founder and Artistic Director of creative company Artichoke, has been appointed as Chair of arts organisation IOU.
Based in Halifax, IOU is a Creation Centre with over 10,000 square feet of studio, workshop and gallery space providing opportunities for artists and participants to co-create and produce artworks and interdisciplinary productions in the heart of Calderdale.
Marriage will be joined on the IOU board by three other new trustees: cultural strategist CATHERINE WADDINGTON, Factory International Technical Director JACK THOMPSON and sculptor and David Nash Studio Manager SAM CLAYTON.
With their wide-ranging skills and experience, these new appointments will play a pivotal role in steering IOU towards its ambition of becoming the North’s National Creation Centre for Contemporary Art, Engineering and Technology, IOU said.
Of her appointment, Marriage said: ‘'IOU is one of the fixed points in my professional life. Witnessing the creativity of IOU and other groundbreaking companies like Welfare State and Bread and Puppet, it was obvious that the iconoclastic imaginations were never going to be confined to traditional arts spaces. I am honoured to play a part in the continuing success of the company.”
JOANNE WAIN, Chief Executive Officer of IOU, commented on the new appointments: "This new leadership team marks a significant chapter in IOU's journey, blending historical legacy with forward-thinking vision, ensuring its continued impact on the arts landscape for years to come. We are delighted to be working with an array of leaders in their fields from artists and sculptors, production managers and art strategists’.