Who we are

PAUL BOGEN AND SANDY FITZGERALD - OLIVEARTE DIRECTORS

Paul’s career in the arts began in the theatre, first as an actor and then as a manager, which included working in Poland and then producing shows in London’s Fringe and West End Theatre’s. In 1989 Paul was appointed the first director of The Junction in Cambridge, a pioneering purpose-built youth arts centre, the first of its kind in the UK. Over the next seventeen years, Paul oversaw the development of the Junction and its multi-disciplined programme, raising the centre’s profile to a national level with 400 performances and 600 educational events a year and attendance figures reaching 150,000 per annum. In 2000, Paul became responsible for the Junction’s major capital development programme of some £7 million, steering it to the successful opening of a ‘state of the art’ 3,000 square meter cultural facility in 2005.

Paul’s consultancy work since 2001 includes business planning, capital and strategy development contracts for clients that include Luton Borough Council, Korjaamo Cultural Centre, Helsinki, South Oxfordshire District Council, Culture Action Europe, Brussels, Village Underground, London and Chester City Council.

Paul was an executive committee member and then President of Trans Europe Halles (A European network of fifty arts venues). He is also currently a director on the board of Hoi-Polloi and Classworks Theatre Company’s and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Sandy has over thirty years experience as a cultural practitioner and manager. Beginning as an actor, writer and musician, he went on to become a founder member of City Arts Centre, Dublin, and director of that organisation from 1973 to 2002.

Sandy has participated in many areas of cultural development in Ireland and abroad, working at local, national and international level. His experience includes: Director of the Dublin Street Carnival (1988-1991); founder member of CAFE (Creative Activity for Everyone) now CREATE; Board member of the Royal Hospital National Cultural Centre (later to become the Irish Museum of Modern Art); Executive Committee Member of Trans Europe Halles (a European network of Cultural Centres) and Board member of the Dublin Film Festival and Junior Dublin Film Festival.

In addition to the practical management of arts organisations, events and projects, Sandy has also contributed to the debate around arts and culture through various think tanks (such as the Irish government’s ‘Commission for the Status of People with Disabilities – Arts and Culture Committee’), as a speaker at conferences and as a contributor to relevant newspapers and journals.

Contact
Paul Bogen, The Lane, Hauxton, Cambridge, CB22 5HP, England.
Mobile: 0044 (0)77 36066086 Phone: 0044 1223 874452
E paul@olivearte.com

Sandy Fitzgerald, 19 Kirwan Street Cottages, Dublin 7,
Ireland.
Mobile: 00353 (0)86 173 1799 Phone: 00353 (1) 8688108
E sandy@olivearte.com