Dave Moutrey OBE and Alison Clarke | #2 Reimagining Carlisle
Reimagining Carlisle
Dave Moutrey OBE (Director of Culture and Creative Industries for Manchester City Council) and Alison Clark (Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism Durham Council)
The second in our series : A unique opportunity to hear from two experts in place, culture and community reflect on the city of Carlisle.
Eden Arts is bringing together a group of cultural leaders and experts to help shape a visionary future for Carlisle in Cumbria. A select group will be invited to join us for a day of exploration, discussion, and inspiration as part of our ‘Bigger Picture’ project.
Reimagining Carlisle will bring together a small group of future change makers, alongside stakeholders and cultural leaders to imagine a future for the city.
The day will offer an alternative 'tour' of the city, viewing the highlights and potential through the eyes of the experts. This part of the day will begin at midday followed by a more focussed discussion lead by Dave Moutrey OBE (Director of Culture and Creative Industries for Manchester City Council) and Alison Clark (Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism Durham Council). Following this the experts will lead a conversation about their area of expertise alongside how they perceive Carlisle now and in it's potential for the future.
Places are limited so please register your interest via Eventbrite here.
Dave Moutrey OBE
PHD (HON) MBA MCMI BEd FRSA
Director of Culture and Creative Industries for Manchester City Council
Dave is responsible for leading on the creation and delivery of Manchester City Council’s cultural and creative industries policy and strategy working closely with the city’s cultural and creative industries sector on joint working and other collaborative initiatives. He was appointed to this role after a 6 year part-time secondment to the Council as of Director of Culture.
Until March 2024 he was Director and Chief Executive of HOME a purpose built multi art form venue that opened in May 2015. He conceived and led both the merger of Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company to create the organisation to operate HOME and the £25m capital project to create the building which has attracted almost 1m visits per year since opening.
HOME includes 5 cinema screens, education spaces, digital production and broadcast facilities, a 500 seat theatre, 150 seat flexible theatre, large gallery, café bar, restaurant, offices and other ancillary spaces consistent with a production centre. HOME provides opportunities for artists and audiences to create work together, as well as a social and cultural hub.
Before opening HOME Dave was Director and CEO of Cornerhouse from 1998 having been appointed to that role having established and led the regional arts marketing agency Arts About Manchester.
Dave was awarded an OBE for services to culture in 2022 and a Doctor of Arts honoris causa by the University of Salford in 2018 and in December 2024 was appointed Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester Drama Department. He is a member of the Chartered Management Institute, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In February 2022 Dave was appointed by the Secretary of State at the DCMS as Chair of the Theatres Trust, a national arms-length body. He was previously an advisor to the British Council and still holds a number of non-executive roles on not-for-profit boards.
Alison Clark
Alison has had a 25-year career in culture & place leadership. She is currently Director of Culture Sport and Tourism at Durham County Council, responsible for sectoral strategy and delivery and major new visitor and infrastructure projects. Alongside this role she is collaboratively developing the Culture Creative Tourism and Sport portfolio with the new North East Combined Authority, delivering on key devolution commitments including region of sport, regional visitor economy and new relationships with arms length bodies.
Previously she spent 15 years with Arts Council England, latterly as North West Director and national Director, Combined Arts. She supported major infrastructure growth, and developed policy, profile and investment across festivals, arts centres and social arts practice, and designed and lead influential programmes that had significant impact on large scale festivals and events.
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 & Culture, a founding Director of Future Arts Centres and a board member of North East Screen.
