Chief Executive Officer

Douglas Gill - Co-founder of Studio Upstairs in London and founder of the Bristol studio. He is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, member of The Philadelphia Association and HPC registered art therapist, lecturer, artist and former performance artist.

Senior Studio Managers

David Fried- Registered HPC art therapist and has been working at the Studio Upstairs for many years. David studied Fine Art BA(hons) at Middlesex Polytechnic, MA Postgraduate at the Royal College of Art and Art Therapy at St. Alban School of Art. David also works part-time as an art therapist within the NHS, facilitating a variety of art therapeutic groups and working with in patients.

Ola Rabinovich- Artist and HPC registered art therapist with a degree in Art History and Political Science and a Masters in Art Therapy from Lesly College in Boston Massachusetts. Ola first came to the Studio as a volunteer at the Bristol studio in 2004 and became a studio manager in London in June 2006. Before becoming an art therapist Ola worked in Israel with immigrants, abused children and their families, was a PR for a theatre and set up a therapy community centre for immigrants in Tel-Aviv.

Studio Managers

Sam Hunt- Is a registered HPC art therapist and has a background in video, film and performance Art. Sam trained at Goldsmiths where she also completed her Art therapy training there.
As well as working at the Studio Sam also holds a position as an art therapist in adult psychiatry where I work in inpatient and out patient services.

Mark Richardson- Since graduating in 1994 with a Fine Art Degree in painting Mark has worked in a variety of settings within the mental health sector and community arts, with diverse communities both here in the UK and in the United States.

Dan Skili- Qualified Drama and Movement Therapist, and has several years experience working as a professional actor and director. Dan qualified at the Central school of Speech and Drama and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. As well as running the Studio Upstairs Performance Group Dan works as a drama teacher at Mountview, The Court Yard Theatre and The Academy Drama School.

Haydn Forde- Originally trained as an actor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has an MA Dramatherapy from the Central School of Speech and Drama in March 2006. At present, he is a member of Playback South and Ahh Performance Lab.
Haydn is also a drama facilitator and has recently worked with Beearts Community Interest Company, running drama workshops for primary school children, aimed at deepening their understanding of the Slave Tradeas and works as a a Dramatherapist in a variety of settings.


Claire Alexander- A Creative Arts Therapist who studied in Melbourne and holds her Post Graduate Diploma in Creative Arts Therapy from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. She started working at the Studio Upstairs in March 2004, first as a volunteer and then a Studio Manager. Claire also works as a photographer in her other life with her husband, as well as writing poetry, drawing and making books.

Administration

Administration and Special Projects Manager – Belinda Dowling - started at the Studio 5 years ago when it was based in the Diorama Arts Centre. Previously worked in marketing for the National Theatre and then as an assistant to the Artistic Director of the Barbican Centre followed by a spell at Glyndebourne Opera.

Assistant Administrator- Amy Perkins - Began volunteering at the Studio in May 2006 and now works as the assistant to the Administrator and Project Coordinator. Amy studied BA(hons) Film and Video at the University of Wales, College Newport and art and photography at A-level.

Trustees

Hannah Grant – Currently a freelance Strategy consultant, Hannah was previously Business Development Director at Tesco. Her early career was at Marakon Associates, a strategy consultancy, where spent seven years helping management teams at companies like Diageo, Cadbury’s Schweppes and BP to make key decisions about the future of their businesses. She has also worked in the Advertising Industry. Hannah has a strong interest in the arts and completed an intensive foundation course at the Slade in 2003.

Sharon Toop – Head of Production at IOP Publishing, an international publisher of journals and magazines in physics and related subjects. A physicist by training, Sharon has worked in publishing for more than 30 years. She came to Studio Upstairs through an Arts and Business initiative that matches the skills and experience of managers working in business and industry with the requirements of arts-based organizations in the South West. Her previous interest in art was limited to visiting galleries and museums while on holiday!

Alan Bolden –Director of Arts and Ecology at Dartington, and MA Award Leader. Alan also teaches the BA Arts and Cultural Management.
He has worked for the last 20 years as a curator, artist and project manager. He was Director of an Interdisciplinary Arts Festival for 12 years and worked for 5 years as Head of Arts for Social Services in Luxembourg helping to overhaul and transform the arts in social work. He has an MA in Art and Psychotherapy.

Tom Trevor - Director of Arnolfini, in Bristol since October 2005. He was previously Director of Spacex, Exeter, from 1999-2005. He studied Fine Art at the Ruskin, Oxford, and Goldsmiths College, London, and exhibited regularly as an artist in the early 1990s, as well as working as a music producer for television. As an independent curator from 1994-99, he curated context-based projects for inIVA, Camden Arts Centre, the Freud Museum and the Wellcome Trust, amongst other organisations.

Lucy Johnstone - Lucy spent 10 years in adult mental health, with a particular interest in in-patient work, before moving to an academic post at The University of the West of England. She moved back into part-time clinical practice and her current post on the Bristol Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2001.
She is the author of ‘Users and Abusers of Psychiatry: a critical look at psychiatric practice’ and has published in the areas of psychosis, psychotherapy, self harm, psychiatric medication, models of psychiatric intervention and reflective practice.
Lucy is and has been involved in; MIND, The International Centre for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, The International Society for Psychological treatment of Schizophrenias and The Psychotherapy Section of the BPS. She is on the editorial board of several journals and is currently external examiner for the Hertfordshire Clinical Psychology Doctorate.