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THE ARTS AND SUSTAINABILITY: How can the arts enable sustainable futures?
The intrinsic value of the creative industries in fostering connection, collaboration, inclusion and idea generation to unlock societal and economic value.
DATE: 22 July 2025
TIME: 10:00-11:30 GMT
Your MINDSPARK contributors:
MARY CLOAKE
Mary Cloake was born in Cardiff, South Wales and grew up in County Wexford in South East Ireland. She worked in fringe theatre and in various roles in the arts in Ireland. From 2004 to 2011 she was Director of the Arts Council of Ireland.
During her time at the Arts Council she focused on developing the arts throughout the country, including outside of the main centres of population where partnerships with local authorities were crucial, as were programmes to support independent artists to develop distinctive and indigenous artistic work.
Highlighting the role of the arts as central to the everyday lives of the people of Ireland was an important part of her mission, and to this end she worked with the media, with government departments, including Health, Justice and Foreign Affairs and with a variety of inspiring individuals.
Since 2012 Mary has been Chief Executive of the Bluecoat, Liverpool’s centre for the contemporary arts, and England’s oldest arts centre which has a particular commitment to supporting artists with a diverse range of life experiences and to creating opportunities for everyone to enjoy the arts. Bluecoat will celebrate 100 years as an arts centre, the oldest in the UK, in 2027.
A member of the Institute of Social Responsibility at Edge Hill University, a board member of Project Arts Centre, Dublin and a member of the Age & Opportunity Arts Advisory Board, Mary is delighted to be based in a city where the arts and culture are considered by the Mayor to be ‘the rocket fuel of economic development’.
MICHELLE CONSTANT
Passionate about finding strategic connections between corporates and the creative sector, Michelle was CEO at Business and Arts South Africa NPC for 11 years, until 2019. Now serving these sectors on a different scale, Michelle consults diverse NPCs, foundations, trusts and corporates on social impact, corporate social development, fundraising, partnership, transformation and diversity – using cultural and creative intelligence and shared value tools. She is also studying for her MPhil in Strategy at the University of Pretoria.
Michelle lends her unique skill-set to a diverse array of boards, including that of SA Tourism, the National Arts Festival, the MISTRA Indlulamathi Trust, and the Javett-UP Art Centre.
Michelle is an accomplished presenter, journalist and writer. She hosts the weekend breakfast shows on national public radio station SAFM, in addition to writing columns for publications such as WANTED and Creative Feel. She is also renowned as a facilitator and speaker at diverse conferences and events, both nationally and internationally.
In 2016, Michelle was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government, for her work as a fierce cultural ambassador who champions the often underestimated value of arts in society and the economy.
Michelle is a walker, hiker and wanderlust adventurer. She has hiked the Camino de Santiago, and has her sights set on the formidable Kilimanjaro as a future adventure.
Organiser
