Trustees

Find out more about each of our Trustees below.

Ruth Wishart

Ruth Wishart

Chair of Trustees, Ruth is a journalist and broadcaster. She served two terms on the board of Creative Scotland, and has previously served as Chair of the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow and of Theatre Cryptic. She has been a Trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland, a Governor of Glasgow School of Art, and a member of the Scottish Advisory Committee of the British Council, and of the council of the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Art.

Sir Brian McMaster

Sir Brian McMaster

Brian is a former director of the Edinburgh International Festival (1989-2006). He has also held a number of high profile jobs within the arts including director of Welsh National Opera. He is involved in judging a number of international arts competitions including the Herbert von Karajan Salzburg Festival Conducting Competition.

Polly Rewt

Polly Rewt

Polly is an American-born academic with a profound knowledge of the arts whose work with the Open University has assisted many hundreds of students to realise their ambitions across a wide field of endeavour.

Lesley Thomson

Lesley Thomson

Lesley is a Vice Chair of the Glasgow School of Art. She has previously served on the Boards of Horsecross (Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre), Birmingham Royal Ballet, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and The Arches. In her role as Managing Director of the Spreng Thomson consultancy she has worked with many arts organisations across the UK.

Jill Miller

Jill Miller

Jill is the Director of Cultural Services for Culture and Sport Glasgow. Jill is a graduate from the Scottish College of Textiles and has led a wide range of work with people in both the voluntary and the public sectors, primarily in the arts with the aim of engaging, exploring, learning and celebrating.

 Nicola Catterall

Nicola Catterall

Nicola is a trustee of a number of Arts and educational charities having retired from the National Galleries of Scotland in 2018, where she was Chief Operating Officer for 12 years. A Chartered Accountant, Nicola spent over 20 years in financial services, working for J.P. Morgan and Standard Life . Currently studying part time for a Masters in Literature & Arts at Oxford, Nicola has a long-standing interest in the visual arts with a particular passion for sculpture, sculpture parks and land art. An occasional amateur dabbler, she is a keen collector of prints and sculpture.

Andy Arnold

Andy Arnold

Andy started his theatre directing career when he was appointed to the post of Director of Theatre Workshop Edinburgh in the early 1980s. He then went on to become Director of the Bloomsbury Theatre London before returning to Scotland and establishing The Arches – transforming it over a seventeen year period from a derelict space into a leading international theatre and arts centre. In 2008 Andy moved to his present position as Artistic Director of The Tron Theatre, Glasgow. He was recently awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Strathclyde University.

Roy McEwan-Brown

Roy McEwan-Brown

Roy has received an OBE and a Finnish knighthood for services to music. With more than 40 years experience in arts management, he has acted as Chief Executive of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Director of Arts Development at North West Arts Board and Director of the MacRobert Arts Centre. He has worked in theatre and at Whitechapel Art Gallery, been a member of the Scottish Arts Council, Chair of the Federation of Scottish Theatre and the Glasgow Audience Development Agency, Board Member of the Association of British Orchestras, Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, and Sage Gateshead, and a member of the UK City of Culture 2021 Advisory Panel. In 2017 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music (DMus) by the University of Glasgow.

Jean Sangster

Jean Sangster

Jean is Head of Voice and the Centre for Voice in Performance in the School of Drama, Dance, Production and Film at the Royal Conservative of Scotland (RCS). Jean is responsible for the vocal studies on all Acting, Musical Theatre and Contemporary Performance Programmes. A music graduate of the RCS, for many years Jean taught Music at Douglas Academy, singing on the Musical Theatre Course at the Dance School of Scotland and piano in the Junior School of Music at the RCS. Jean is an Artistic Associate in Voice at Dundee Rep Theatre and has worked as a voice coach with many of the main Scottish theatre and performance companies. Jean is one of only18 fully accredited teachers of Nadine George Voice Work and is a keen advocate of Scots Language.

Roberta Doyle

Roberta Doyle

Roberta is a graduate in Business Administration and has held senior director-level roles in marketing, communications, digital, learning and fundraising within Scotland’s largest cultural organisations, including the National Theatre of Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet. She lectures and gives papers widely in the UK and abroad on strategic issues relating to performing and visual arts audiences, marketing, communications, audience development and cultural industry management. She has acted as a consultant on strategic marketing and public affairs to other major European arts organisations, including the Romaeuropa Festival, the National Concert Hall in Ireland and the Rome Opera. Roberta is also a Justice of the Peace in the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin.

Richard Chester

Former Trustee: Richard Chester

Richard was a respected and valued trustee of the Dewar Arts Awards.  He was formerly Principal Flute of the Scottish National Orchestra and Director of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland. He acted as Chairman of the World Federation of Amateur Orchestras, European Federation of National Youth Orchestras, St Mary’s Music School Edinburgh and the Scottish Arts Council Music Committee. He was a Trustee of the Edinburgh Quartet Trust, Lochaber Music School Trust and the Scottish Schools Orchestra Trust. Richard also acted as an Adjudicator for music festivals, conservatoires and schools. Our tribute to Richard is here.

Awardees

We have supported more than 300 talented young artists. Find out more about them here.

Are You Eligible?

Any artist who is under the age of 30 and living or working in Scotland can be nominated.