Here at Queen Street Gallery we are a wee workforce of three; the creator and owner Bethan Ash, Beth's right-hand woman Sarah Thom, and the social media & marketing rep Lowri Thom.
This blog post is just a bit of background about us so you can get to know a little bit more about the faces you see and/or names you email! One of our biggest goals is to make strong relationships with our local supporters, customers and artists who we are all so grateful for.
Without further ado... let's meet the team!
First and foremost, is the lovely Bethan Ash. Beth is a renowned artist, who loves working with and creating quilted and textiles art!
After many years of living and working in Cardiff and travelling the world, Beth saw the potential of Neath and what it's local artists had to offer, and so set up our Art Gallery in May 2018.
Beth has done an excellent job of curating and showcasing local talent and feels so passionately about the importance of this space in our community.
Constantly bursting with ideas; we are so grateful for Beth's vision, kindness and dedication to the promotion of local art. Her vision and enthusiasm has been and will continue to be a huge inspiration to so many aspiring and successful artists.
Second in command in our team is Sarah.
Sarah, with a teaching background of 25 years, went on a wet-felting course with her best friend Jeanette Jones one day. They felt (no pun intended) so inspired that they decided to set up their own wet-felting business together! @ThomandJones
They have lead many successful courses
and workshops, and have been a part of lots of fun craft fares.
Sarah is the happy and bubbly face of the gallery, always busy doing something and always happy to help and chat!
Lastly, and newest to the team is myself, Lowri. A warm hello to everyone reading this; I am so excited to get involved with the community here at Queen Street Gallery!
I have always been passionate about music and the arts as a musician myself, which has only been strengthened by the current climate surrounding the rapid decline of arts education. (I actually wrote my dissertation on the socio-economic implications of budget cuts on Welsh music education and local music services!)
As a recent graduate of The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, I am on a mission, at least locally, to improve the current state of music education.
And so, we are currently planning on making full use of our premises here to create an exciting space for local people of all ages and backgrounds to come and enjoy some music-making! So stay tuned!
My place on the team is dedicated to promoting the incredible range of talented artists and their work featured at our Gallery, and I am very excited to extend our reaches and hopefully grow our community.
That's all from me for now, but keep your eyes peeled for regular updates on this blog. I hope you feel like you know us all a little better, and we all look forward to welcoming each of you to the Gallery Community!