The artists are Adam Carver, Bea Colley, Bobbie-Jane Gardner and Ashley Jordan.

 

Warwick Arts Centre Creative Director Beth Byrne said: "We are delighted to announce four fantastic creative powerhouses as our Artistic Associates for this year (2025) at Warwick Arts Centre.  

 

"Adam, Ashley, Bobbie-Jane and Bea all offer insight and cultural expertise within their respective artistic fields spanning performance, dance, classical music, words and ideas, and enable us to further our creative ambition to programme the most exciting and progressive work, especially from the West Midlands.  

 

"They also speak to our commitment to broaden the perspective and collective lived experience of our programming team to ensure we offer a place to share our experiences, a place to find common ground and understanding, a place to connect, to transform and explore new possibilities together."

 

Adam Carver (they/them) is a Birmingham-based artist, producer, and cultural organiser, better known as their stage persona Fatt Butcher.

 

Their work explores queerness, joy, healing, fatness, spirituality and the body, with previous work commissioned by Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Birmingham Hippodrome, Cambridge Junction, Fierce Festival, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Jerwood Arts, and Arts Council England.

 

Says Adam: “Warwick Arts Centre was one of the first arts venues I visited as a young person, so I’m absolutely delighted to be made an Artistic Associate as I continue to develop my artistic practice, and supporting and developing opportunities for local LGBTQ+ creatives and communities.”

 

Bea Colley (she/her) is a freelance Literature Programmer and Producer.

 

With a portfolio that includes Brighton Festival, Primadonna Festival, Women of the World and Write and Shin, Bea previously spent a decade working on the Literature programme at London's Southbank Centre, and was Co-Chair of New Writing South until 2020.

 

Says Bea: "I'm delighted to be working alongside Director Doreen Foster on Warwick Arts Centre's Words and Ideas programme - an exciting series of talks aimed at celebrating acts of resistance and drawing on the activist history of the city of Coventry and the University of Warwick."

 

Bobbie-Jane Gardner (she/her) is a Birmingham-based composer and arranger.

 

Inspired by bringing together the sound worlds of jazz, classical, soul and funk, Bobbie has been commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Grand Union, London Symphony Orchestra, Spitalfields Music, Punch Records and Warwick Arts Centre, and has created bespoke arrangements for various ensembles and organisations including the BBC Concert Orchestra, and Netflix.  Bobbie-Jane is also a music composition lecturer at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Her Buddhist and climate-change themed commission, The Burning House, was performed in December by the University of Warwick Symphony Orchestra and jazz trio in the Butterworth Hall.

 

Says Bobbie Jane: “I’m excited to work together with the Warwick Arts Centre to support their programming and shine a light on often overlooked musicians. It is clear that the arts and cultural scene faces immense challenges, but that does not mean artistic programming has to play it safe. I'm keen to work with the team to support the programming of playful, thought-provoking and memorable artistic work to new and established audiences.”

 

Ashley Jordan (he/him) is Company Director and Choreographer for Coventry's Ascension Dance.

 

He has worked with Motionhouse, Highly Sprung, Fevered Sleep, Mercurial Dance, Autin Dance Theatre and Corey Baker Dance as a freelance dance/performance artist. In 2017, Ashley co-founded Ascension Dance Company (with Ben Morley,) which has taken him across the world, working in Cyprus and South Africa and collaborating with companies such as BBC, Sky Arts, Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. He has also created a movement trail for families and young people around five works in the University of Warwick Sculpture Park (which will be available from spring 2025 half term).

 

Says Ashley: "With a career intrinsically connected to Warwick Arts Centre, where I first found my dance roots as a child and since have developed relationships with several of its departments across a number of projects, I am thrilled to be one of their Associate Artists. I look forward to advocating for dance within the Arts Centre and discussing future opportunities for participation and engagement."

 

Based on the University of Warwick campus, in Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre is the largest arts centre in the UK outside of London. Recently celebrating its 50th anniversary, the vibrant venue includes a variety of performance, screen and exhibition spaces, among them three cinema screens, a major contemporary visual art space (Mead Gallery), a theatre, two studios and the Butterworth Hall. Spring/Summer 2025’s varied programme features appearances from The Hallé, CBSO, Motionhouse, exhibitions by Mao Ishikawa and Mike Silva, Sonia Sabri Company, Tavaziva Dance, imitating the dog, Frozen Light, Bi-Curious George, Rhiannon Faith Company, Joan As Policewoman, K.O.G., and Chineke! Orchestra.

 

For more information, see: warwickartscentre.co.uk