The Art House was founded by Bik, Jani, Ziggy and Nina and is now run by five Directors.
Although all have a hand in the day-to-day running of the space, each has a different main area of focus. The Art House is run on collective working principles and our paid crew and volunteers are also involved in the decisions made about how we run.
Bik (pronouns he/him) aka Paul Bickmore
Music, offsite events, tech stuff
Bik is a musician and sound engineer with a passion for finding top notch, unusual music for our gallery space and offsite gigs.
He also spends a lot of time reducing the energy use of our space with a number of clever, automated gadgets that sometimes make it feel like The Art House has a mind of its own.
Dave Hubble (pronouns he/him)
Exhibition curator, art installations & projects
Dave has been involved with The Art House for a number of years, first as maintenance coordinator, and then as Curator.
Having jumped ship from the sciences in his mid 40s, he is now a poet and visual artist with a penchant for swords, invertebrates and noisy music. He has variously been likened to Sam Vimes from the Discworld novels, Jet Girl, and Brian Blessed. His familiar is a snow leopard.
Devin Valentine (pronouns he/him)
Paid crew representative, new volunteers, cafe, funded projects
Devin Valentine moved to Southampton from London to pursue a degree – ill fated as the degree turned out to be, he still found a home in the community of Southampton and has been involved in grassroots activism in the city ever since.
You may know him from such events as Reclaim the Night 2016, and the Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil. Hobbies include fixing things, motorcycles and playing bass in his band Hunting Hearts.
Jani Franck (pronouns they/them)
Finance, regular events & hires, networking & outreach
Jani is a multidisciplinary artist, their practice embraces visual art, performance, installations, music, poetry and writing. Born & raised in South Africa, with a passion for getting people doing creative things, connecting with nature and exploring new ways of forming groups and supporting one another through the current global changes.
Ziggy Woodward (pronouns she/her)
Seed swap, outreach events
Ziggy has a passion for vegan food, growing organic veggies, Steampunk shenanigans and tending to her flock/herd of rescue hamsters and budgies.
She has run stalls and events in Southampton for nearly twenty years promoting plant based, ethical food through getting people to try out how tasty it is.
She is also a volunteer for Southampton Scrapstore and Bitterne Road Library.
Nina has moved to Lisbon and now focuses full time on her own art practice.
Almost all of our crew are volunteers who do everything from preparing and serving food to admin and maintenance. Our membership, who help manage the organisation, are all long-term volunteers.
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- Bik – director, event organiser and genie conjurer
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- Ziggy – voluntary director, chef and pirate
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- Director Ziggy with her husband (also kitchen volunteer), John, doing a stall at a vegan fair.
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- Devin, Chantelle & Duncan
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- Our paid crew, plus two directors and Alfie the dog
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- Jamie, cafe and kitchen co-ordinator
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- Jani saying bye to long term co-ordinator, Graham, who now runs his own cafe in Serbia
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- Long term volunteer and wizard, Julian
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- Jani.
