In this week’s instalment of Meet the Team, we are excited to feature Sam (Oompah), Director at Artis.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got started in the arts?

I’ve always loved the arts since being introduced to the theatre to see Cats when I was younger. I was also part of the school youth drama club and I quickly realised that I liked to be behind the scenes rather on the stage! I studied BA (Hons) in Performance Management at Bretton Hall College where I specialised in stage management. This lead to several roles stage managing including becoming the resident Deputy Stage Manager at The Mill at Sonning.

After many years in stage management I was offered the chance to work in the West End and jumped at the chance to become the Assistant Theatre Manager for the Lyceum Theatre home to Disney’s The Lion King.

After many years of working mainly evenings and weekends I then decided to change pathways and went into marketing where I could help bring the magic of theatre to local theatres including Wycombe Swan and Polka Theatre for children. This move allowed me to creatively contribute to the theatre’s success and witness the direct impact of my efforts as audiences filled the venue.

For over eight years, I have been a part of Artis, starting as Marketing Manager, advancing to Head of Communications & Partnerships, and currently as Director. It’s incredibly rewarding to witness the transformative impact Artis has and to see how far the charity has come. Visiting the schools we partner with and seeing the children’s joy during an Artis session is a highlight of my work, reinforcing my love for the arts and my commitment to making a difference through a creative education.

What initially drew you to Artis, and how did you become a part of this organisation?

I am passionate about making the arts accessible to everyone, recognising the profound impact they can have on people’s lives. Artis and our excellent creative specialists do an amazing job of engaging children in primary schools with their active and fun sessions. As a parent, I see firsthand how easily the love of learning can be squeezed out due to the pressures of reaching milestones and targets from such a young age. This personal experience fuels my commitment to bringing the joy and excitement of learning to children, ensuring that education is both creative and a positive experience.

What does a normal work day look like for you?

I don’t think there is one day that looks the same in this role! The whole team is also super busy as we are a very small team trying to do lots! Recently I’ve been involved with the exciting rebranding of Artis and then working on a new website to showcase the new branding. One minute I can be checking and setting budgets, then another day I can be writing board reports and updating polices and our risk register, then the next week I might be writing a design brief for a new piece of print or working on a project with one of our partners. I get to be both creative and analytical in my role. I love the variety and working with the fantastic team at Artis to ensure everything is running smoothly for our partner schools and creative learners.

What do you love most about your job at Artis?

I love going into schools and seeing the children’s faces light up during an Artis session. It reminds me of why Artis is such an exciting charity and how vital our work is. It also inspires me to ensure that we can reach our mission to nurture creativity in every child, everywhere, and shape a thriving society. I love working with our amazing team behind the scenes who make sure that everything works like clockwork in our partner schools and hearing all the fantastic feedback about the impact that the weekly sessions have on the children we reach. I also love data! So love to analyse the impact results from the year and also the results from the children that we track over the academic year.

Looking towards the future, what are you looking forward to?

I am looking forward to what the future holds for the next 20 years for Artis. It has been great to be part of the journey to date and I cannot wait until we can reach our goal of being in more schools next year so that even more children can experience Artis in person. There are also lots of exciting projects on the horizon…but you will have to watch this space to find out more.