The Directors

Julie Norburn

Julie Norburn

Founder and CEO

PGCE Teaching, BA Hons 1st in Community Arts and Education, Diploma Art Therapy, Trauma and Mental Health Informed Schools and Communities – level 5, Counselling – level 3, Mindfulness – level 3, Understanding Behaviour Change – level 3, Special Education Needs – level 2, Arts and Social Inclusion – level 2, Mental Health First Aider, Drawing and Talking Practitioner.

Julie provides exceptional leadership and develops initiatives, unlocks new potential whilst furthering the core company objectives. She has commitment, social responsibility and innovative ideas that will take Art4Space to new heights in the coming years and continue to build a long-lasting legacy with the exceptional team and dedicated board at Art4Space.

Prior and alongside Art4Space she has many years of experience working in the sector and is committed to social equality and ensuring that everyone has access to a safe and healthy life filled with opportunities for learning, creativity, and sustainability. Julie is an incredibly energetic and innovative person who is passionate about the arts and the transformative impact. She strongly believes that supporting human skills and creativity is essential, especially in a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on technology. She leads by example and lives the values that she preaches.

Born in Yorkshire in the 60s, Julie grew up in a family that placed a great emphasis on creativity, mainly due to poverty and most things handmade. Despite experiencing a difficult childhood, she found solace in drawing and crafting. Although she did not attend university until her 30s, Julie has travelled and volunteered extensively, lived around the world for 8 years, and is lucky to have learned about the arts through different cultures and places, admiring heritage and folk art and how communities make a living from their crafts facing adversity and challenges.

Julie has extensive experience teaching children and adults with varied needs and abilities in many community contexts. She is trained in counselling, mindfulness, and therapeutic work, and has a wealth of experience in funding and consultation. She was previously the education officer at Stockwell Studios and the chief curator for the busy bi-annual shows. Julie has also written and runs several accredited training courses, is an inspirational workshop leader for many festivals across the globe, and has worked on international residences and projects, including Nek Chand in India, Urban Mosaic intervention projects in Chile and Germany, Cultural Exchange in Africa, Firefly in Bosnia, a school project in China and Mardi Gras in Sydney.

Julie’s chosen mediums include mosaics, ceramics, and drawing. She is a specialist in mosaics and an established artist in this field, having trained in Ravenna, Italy, studying ancient applications. Julie’s work has been showcased in many London exhibitions. Her mosaic commissions before Art4Space include Hitchcock’s Leytonstone tube station mosaics and China Cow, which was on display in Liberty’s before being sold at Sotheby’s for Childline.

Contact Julie @ jewels@art4space.co.uk

Non-Executive Directors – Advisory Board Members

The role of the NED has the following key elements:

• Commit to quarterly meetings and the AGM

• Strategy – should constructively support and help develop proposals on strategy.

•Performance – help the performance of management in meeting agreed goals and objectives and monitor the reporting of performance.

•Risk – should satisfy themselves on the integrity of financial information and that financial controls and risk management systems are robust and defensible.

•People – are responsible for determining appropriate remuneration levels of executive directors, and succession planning.

Paul Hague

Paul Hague

Non-Executive Director

Voluntary non-executive Director Paul Hague has a BA (Hons); Dip SW; MA (Applied Social Sciences) and has worked for 15 years as a public servant, in both local authority and NHS settings in both front line and managerial roles. Paul was a trustee for Art4Space for more than three years and became a non – executive director in November 2012 when Art4Space became a company Ltd by guarantee. Paul is an active member of the Focus Engagement Group and works alongside Julie in the strategic running of Art4Space.

Nina Knight

Nina Knight

Non-Executive Director

Nina Knight is our Voluntary Non-Executive Director. She worked for Art4Space part-time as a business development manager for two years and since stepping down agreed to become our third director. She is a keen business woman with an entrepreneurial spirit. Nina continues to brings business opportunity and financial advice to Art4Space in her role as Director, alongside founder and director of the charity Acrodysostosis Support and Research.
Erin McFadyen

Erin McFadyen

Non-Executive Director

Erin is an editor and writer from Awabakal and Worimi land in Newcastle, Australia. She has broad experience across independent arts organisations and small publishers, as well as educational publishing settings. Alongside her publishing practice, she’s enjoyed working with young people in schools, higher education, and community education settings as tutor and workshop volunteer.
She is excited to join Art4Space as a Non-Executive Director, contributing a critical perspective to ensure that the organisation serves its community, staff, and volunteers—both now and long into the future. Informed by her personal experience, she is particularly interested in how Art4Space can serve people caring for their own and others’ mental health through creativity and connection.
Richy Walker

Richy Walker

Non-Executive Director

Richy is an experienced senior technical service manager. Joining the industry as an apprentice at a local electrical firm as a teenager, he’s never looked back – Climbing the ranks of the built environment ladder in both office and site-based roles, from estimating and pre-construction to technical services and MEP management. Richy also has lived experience from the LGBTQIA+ community. 

He has a strong dedication and background in the charity sector. With 35 years of experience, holding key leadership positions in prominent non-profits, driving strategic decision-making and building partnerships for Lambeth. As a non-executive board member, he upholds the highest standards of governance and accountability, contributing to Art4Space success and social impact.

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