Rye Arts Festival(RAF), staged annually in the autumn over two weeks, will be choosing a new chairman this Sunday February 7 at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) as current chairman, Ian Graham-Bryce, is stepping down.
The two candidates are existing committee member and trustee Peter Mackenzie-Smith from Winchelsea who has led World War Two history tours round the town during the festival in recent years, and Mike Eve from Rye who was instrumental in bringing the new Kino cinema (used for some RAF events) to Rye last year.
The AGM will be held in the Community Centre in Conduit Hill at 4pm and brief biographical notes for both candidates have been circulated by RAF.
Peter Mackenzie-Smith has been a Trustee of RAF since 2013 with responsibility for sponsorship, advertising, art exhibitions and heritage events. Currently part-time Chairman of Getenergy Ltd, he was Director of Education for GEC Marconi and then the British Government’s first Trade Advisor for Education and Training.
His earlier career was with the British Council in the UK, the Middle East and Africa, working on the UK’s cultural, arts and education relationships internationally. A Trustee of several charities, he was Chairman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce Charitable Foundation and he has been a Winchelsea resident since 1951.
Mike Eve has been a Rye resident since 1997 and had a prestigious career (in marketing, management consulting, and insurance broking, ending up as Chief Executive of Britain’s largest broker) before throwing himself into promoting Rye’s historical and cultural heritage as a Town Councillor, a member of Rye Chamber of Commerce, and founder of the Rye Fund.
“I’m immensely proud”, he said, ” to have led the team that raised the funds and built Rye Kino. A long-term Patron of RAF, I also fully support all Rye’s other festivals. I’d be very proud to chair RAF and build on its success whilst maintaining quality. With my enthusiastic approach I would review all venues, attract funding and increase community engagement , especially among the young”.
Asked if there was anything he wanted to add, Peter Mackenzie-Smith said : “I will, if I may, keep that for the AGM on Sunday. I’ve been very pleased to have been a member of the highly successful Festival team for the last few years and look forward to this continuing”.
Mike Eve said : “I would be very proud to be chosen to lead the Rye Festival Committee and help to build on the Festival’s success. I am very committed to developing the Arts in Rye and improving Rye as a place to live.
“I was a founder of the Rye Fund, Fletcher in Rye, and led the Rye Kino Project. The cinema has been open now for a year and has brought a huge range of films, live feeds of opera, ballet, theatre and visual art experiences to0 the area’s citizens and visitors.
“My priorites if elected would be to
- deliver a successful 2016 Festival
- review all venues and in particular the Lamb House Marquee experiment
- widen membership, enhance benefits to Patrons, and broaden the range of sponsors and funding
- promote the Festival (and Rye) on a regional basis
- institute an in depth review of the constitution and governance principles, led by an independent expert, and
- review the balance, scope and intensity of the festival and its events (50+ events in two weeks).
“More broadly we need to seek specific ways to support and promote wider community involvement , and in particular younger age groups, both directly and via digital channels. Also we need to assist the improvement and modernisation of key venues like the Community Centre to benefit both the Festival and Rye. And we also need to utilise all the information available to us to better understand our customers and their preferences”.
Photo: Kenneth Bird