About CVAN EM

Saad Eddine Said has been Chair of CVAN EM since July 2022. He is a strategic leader who initiates and develops partnerships between communities, creatives, and cultural institutions to reshape arts and culture in cities and towns around the world. His purpose is to re-think and re-imagine a blueprint for Institutional Leadership and governance. 

He is the CEO and Artistic Director of CVAN EM's host organisaition, New Art Exchange (NAE), where he transformed and led the organisation to become the first one, worldwide, to integrate a permanent Citizen Assembly as part of its leadership structure. 

He is also the Co-Director and Co-Founder of Citizens In Power and Co-Chair of Contemporary Visual Arts Network England.

Ella van der Straaten is a multidisciplinary artist from Basildon, Essex, now based in Nottingham. She joined the Steering Group in July 2026. Through painting, installation, sculpture, and found materials, she creates playful, immersive works that explore community, identity, and representation. Inspired by everyday life in urban environments, her practice uses humour and vivid colour to challenge stigma, celebrate overlooked experiences, and create accessible encounters with contemporary art.

Emer Grant is Artistic Director and CEO of Arts Collective, Northampton (formerly NNCA) and joined the CVAN EM Steering Group in October 2024. She is a Curator, Producer, and Researcher who completed her Masters in Curatorial Studies at CCS Bard College (USA) and History of Art at the University of York (UK), and her BFA in Critical Fine Art Practice at the University of Brighton. Over the course of more than ten years working across the museum and gallery sector, she has contributed to many exhibition projects in curatorial, production and editorial roles.

Emer was a Fellow for The Recalibrated Institution (Miami) and Curator at Art Center South Florida (now Oolite Arts). Prior to this Emer was an Associate Curator of the 2014 Sonorities Festival (Belfast), she has curated shows and programming for various institutions including the Hessel Museum (NY), P! Gallery (NY), ISCP (NY), Stroom den Haag (NL) Void Gallery (NI), Pollinaria (IT), Yeah Maybe (MN), PHL (DE) and The Grand Parade Gallery (UK). She was Visiting Tutor at the RCA, Visiting Curator at Bard College MFA, Visiting Curator at the University of Minnesota Studio Arts BFA and Visiting Critic for Florida International University's Architecture BFA programme. Emer was the Editor of Accessions.org between 2016-2018 and has written for various publications including, Nero, Electronic Beats, The Editorial, The Miami Rail and Rhizome. She was a fellow selected for the ICI (Independent Curators International) 2013 and has consulted for various organisations on Digital Arts and interdisciplinary strategies for public space. She is also an Associate Curator for Left Gallery (Berlin).

Jazz Singh Swali is Curator and Programme Coordinator at BACKLIT Gallery, Nottingham, where they lead exhibitions, archive development and public programme. They joined the Steering Group in July 2026. Their practice is informed by research into queering, oppositional methodologies and archival practice, with a particular interest in how cultural organisations can better support marginalised people. Alongside their work at BACKLIT, they contribute to the wider sector through freelance work including writing, speaking, mentoring and sitting on selection panels.

Jazz previously served on the Eastside Projects Advisory Board (2021–24) and was part of the British Art Network Emerging Curators Group (2023–24). They have contributed to sector conversations through organisations including British Art Network, UK New Artists and CVAN East Midlands.

They are co-founder of The Lilac House, a queer, feminist and working-class curatorial initiative, and co-author of Pantry (2025), a publication exploring the experiences of marginalised curators.

Alexzandra Jackson is a creative producer based in Leicester, working across artist moving image, digital art and independent film, she joined the Steering Group in July 2026. She is a freelance Creative Producer at Phoenix, where she oversees the organisation's NPO programme, developing exhibitions, artist development opportunities and public events. Alongside this, she runs Liminal Screens, supporting artists and cultural organisations with producing, grant making, fundraising and programme development.

Over the past decade, Alex has worked across commissioning, artist development and cultural production. Before joining Phoenix, she was Production Manager at Film and Video Umbrella, producing artist moving image commissions for galleries and museums in the UK and internationally. She previously spent five years as BFI NETWORK Talent Executive for the Midlands, supporting new and emerging filmmakers through funding, script development, production and professional development.

She is interested in how artists are supported to develop sustainable careers, and in the relationships between visual art, digital art and film. She takes a collaborative approach to her work, with a particular interest in supporting artists and cultural organisations across the Midlands.

Jenny Gleadell is a freelance curator and art historian based in Lincoln, she joined the CVAN EM Steering Group in March 2024. She has over a decade of experience working in curatorial roles in galleries and museums around the country, with a strong focus on contemporary visual arts programming. She has previously worked for Lincoln Museum and Usher Gallery as Exhibitions and Interpretation Officer, The Wilson in Cheltenham, Liverpool Biennial and Threshold Studios. Jenny is passionate about supporting talent development in the region, building the strength of the creative sector in Lincolnshire, and maintaining equity, diversity and inclusion throughout visual arts programming and organisations.

Alongside her freelance work, Jenny is also an M4C PhD candidate at the University of Birmingham researching institutional approaches to collecting and exhibiting internet-based art, and Associate Lecturer at the University of Lincoln, where she has taught on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Lucie De Lacy joined the CVAN EM Steering Group in August 2023 and is Engagement and Projects Coordinator at the LEVEL Centre in Rowsley, Derbyshire. LEVEL is an award-winning contemporary art centre and charity that hosts a year-round programme of visual art exhibitions and digital installations, alongside artist residencies and creative workshops for disabled adults and young people. Lucie manages all workshops, projects, and outreach facilitation for LEVEL with a rounded programme of activity that supports disabled participants to explore the breadth and depth of their creativity.

Formerly Lucie was creative director at a content marketing agency, and outreach lead at an international opera festival. In her personal time, she’s part of the management team of VPR Audio Club, an independent station based out of Vanishing Point Records, Chesterfield. 

Mandeep Dhadialla joined the CVAN EM Steering Group in November 2023 and is a fine art printmaker specialising in plant forms and landscape using combined print processes, drawing and bookmaking to explore concepts of place and home. Her visual and thinking practice is influenced by spending her formative years in Kenya and migrating to England in her teens. Her current long term artist practice examines care of place of the natural world by telling the story of how people and landscape are in an interconnected cyclical exchange, through the idea of nurturing – with focus on the natural environment, human wellbeing and sense of community.

Alongside teaching printmaking and bookmaking workshops, Mandeep delivers socially engaged projects with ArtReach and completed an NPO funded artist commission by Leicester Museum and Galleries in response to Abbey Pumping Station and the Environment – the large scale linocut reproductions were exhibited at Highcross Leicester and featured in No Jobs in the Arts zine. Her practice has also featured in Art Etcetera magazine, A Seasonal Way, Stylist Magazine, and was in conversation with Ruth Singer's the Making Meaning Podcast.

She regularly exhibits her original prints nationally and internationally for a number of years. Key exhibitions & awards include Sock Gallery 2023, 2022 & 2019 (Prize Winner, Highly Commended & Runner Up), Society of Women Artists Exhibition 2021, Teeside Print Prize 2020 (Commended) and Circle Foundation for the Arts Kenya 2020 (Honourable Mention).

Mandeep is a member of ArtCan and resident at Leicester Print Workshop.

Meghan is a freelance curator, educator and writer, with a focus on sculpture, disability justice, and feminist practice. She joined the Steering Group in July 2026. She works on projects supporting artists and arts organisations with artist development, socially engaged projects, and alternative arts education.

Previously, she was Head of Artist Development at Freelands Foundation, leading on the strategic development and delivery of UK-wide programming and partnerships, including residency, fellowship and artist development projects. Prior to this she was Engagement Curator at Yorkshire Sculpture International (a partnership of Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Art Gallery, The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire Sculpture Park), curating one of the festival’s major public realm commissions, the Associate Artist Programme, the Sculpture Network, and programming talks, workshops and projects bringing together artists with universities, schools, and communities across West Yorkshire.

She has delivered freelance projects with Harewood House, Invisible Dust, and New Painters, Modern Decorators. She has written commissioned texts for artists Bijan Amini-Alavijeh, Victoria Lucas, and Lucie Kordacova; advised a number of artist-led projects such as Decoda (a project by artists Ro Robertson and SHARP) in Cornwall, and Threshold, a sculpture project by artist Julia McKinlay in Leeds. She was a board member for Yorkshire Artspace, a studio and residency provider in Sheffield.

She holds a BA and MA in the History of Art from The Courtauld Institute of Art, specialising in 20th century art in Britain. Her MA dissertation on maternity in the sculpture of Betty Rea won the Henry Moore Foundation Prize. 

Niamh is the Coordinator of FORMAT International Photography Festival. She joined the CVAN EM Steering Group in October 2023.

Niamh is a mixed media artist whose practice explores the impact that ever-changing environments, increased social pressures and overexposure to visual information can have on our state of mind.

Nicola is a strategic arts leader, creative producer and qualified teacher with nearly two decades of experience developing inclusive, partnership-led cultural programmes across the UK and internationally. She joined the Steering Group in July 2026. Her career spans leadership roles across festivals, galleries, public art, cultural venues and charities, including Derby QUAD, where she was Education Curator and Designated Safeguarding Lead, alongside roles with ArtReach, The Spark Arts for Children, The National Forest Company and The Affordable Art Fair.

As Creative Director at Arts Derbyshire, Nicola leads partnership development between the creative and health sectors, supporting the growth of creative health practice across Derbyshire. Her work focuses on creating opportunities for artists and communities who face barriers to accessing creativity, helping to build a more connected, inclusive and resilient cultural sector.

Nicola has extensive experience developing cross-sector partnerships, commissioning public art, delivering festivals and community programmes, and securing investment for cultural projects. She specialises in co-creation, education and creative health, bringing together artists, organisations and communities to create meaningful and sustainable impact.

A trained Designated Safeguarding Lead, Mental Health First Aider and Arts Award Advisor, Nicola is committed to championing access, equity and long-term resilience across the cultural sector.

Oliver Ventress is a visual artist and art technician, he joined the Steering Group in July 2026. He has worked as a freelance gallery technician since 2018 and has previously co-run General Practice, a DIY project space and artist collective in Lincoln. He is currently the Fine Art and Exhibition Technician for the University of Lincoln, supporting students with creative projects, maintaining the art studios and installing exhibitions. In 2025 he co-founded BASE – an artist-led, contemporary exhibition space and artist studios in Lincoln, of which he is the Technical Director. 

As an artist, Oliver’s practice combines video, sculpture and installation. He has a particular preoccupation with extraterrestrial communication and potential Earth visitation, and by splitting components of the landscape apart from each other - sky, earth, sun, water - he attempts to understand the planet sculpturally. Oliver has exhibited across the country, notably at APT Studios, London (2025), BACKLIT Gallery, Nottingham (2024), The Auxiliary, Middlesbrough (2023) and Lincoln Art Centre (2023). He was one of 18 nationally selected artists in the UK New Artist Collective 2022. 

Priya Mistry is a Multidisciplinary Artist, Socially Engaged Worker & Creative Producer creating projects under the pseudonym whatsthebigmistry. They joined the Steering Group in July 2026. Presenting inter/nationally in performance spaces, galleries, public realm, on screen & digitally. Their extensive body of works straddle visual art, live performance, clay, mix media craft, film, photo & digital content. Mistry practices an approach centered on care, authorship, agency & sustainability. I’m known for working processes & methodologies that are exploratively rich & inventive. Generating works that are visually bold, probe at difficult questions & laced with nuance. 

Mistry is an Associate/ Alumni Artist with Unlimited, DAO (Disability Arts Online), Artist Member Backlit Gallery, ESP (Eastside Projects), Chisenhale Dance, Multitribe and CVAN EM Steering Group member.

Commissioners & partners have included: Unlimited, British Council, The Bluecoat, Primary, Attenborough Arts, Fabric, DAO, LAC (Lincoln Arts Centre), Derby/IGC Consortium, Ort Gallery, NAE, National Justice Museum, Fierce Festival, METAL, LADA, Spill, Siobhan Davies Dance, Modern Clay, The Newbridge Project, ESP, Axis, CCA Derry (NI), Centre for Less Good Ideas (SA), Critical Path (AUS) and many more.

In 2025 Mistry presented moving image Commission The Empire’s Old Clothes, a solo exhibition and programme of workshop and events series on Black/ Brown Joy with Attenborough Arts, Primary, Ort Gallery and Local partners. They’ve concurrently working on a new International, Cross discipline Collaborative Commission in South Africa with Unlimited & The British Council 2023-2025.