Taliesin Arts Centre appoints new artistic and venue leadership

Taliesin Arts Centre in Swansea has announced that two new managers will be taking up the reins of the popular venue situated at the heart of Swansea University.

Rhian Jones joins the team as Venue Operations Manager, and Craig Morrow comes in as Artistic & Cultural Programme Manager, as the centre continues to develop and deliver the programme to the communities of Swansea and the region.

Rhian Jones was the first CEO of the London Welsh Centre, where she managed all aspects of the organisation, including the arts and culture programme.

Hailing from north Ceredigion, and resident in Swansea for over 20 years, she is Secretary of the Welsh language centre, Tŷ Tawe and a Director of the Welsh language initiative, Menter Iaith Abertawe.

She most recently held the position of Senior Manager on the PGCE Wales programme at the Open University and has worked for national organisations Shelter Cymru and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

Craig Morrow is a director and creative producer most recently employed as Theatre Manager at The Drill arts centre, part of the Lincoln College Group.

Before working at The Drill, he was Artistic Director at Lincoln Performing Arts Centre and before that, Artistic Associate at The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre, Taunton.

Sybil Crouch

The new managers will succeed the centre’s former Director, Mrs Sybil Crouch, who retired in April 2019 after more than 25 years. Mrs Crouch, Head of Cultural Services at Swansea University, passed away in January 2020, leaving a thriving cultural legacy at the centre.

As a fierce and passionate advocate of the arts, she was the first female chair of Arts Council Wales, she established Creu Cymru, a development agency for theatres and art centres.

Her work at the Taliesin included Swansea’s Dance Days, 2012 Cultural Olympiad projects Adain Avion and Vetch Veg, Under Milk Wood: An Opera, music by John Metcalf, Now the Hero/Nawr yr Awr and the schools participation event Primary Dance Project.

Following Mrs Crouch’s retirement and throughout the pandemic, the centre was run by Simon Coates between 2020 and 2021 and then by Reg Noyes who led and supported the team in an interim role up until December 2022.

Legacy

Mr Morrow said: “I’m passionate about the role arts centres can play in their communities and am really looking forward to seeing how we can open up our programmes so that professional, co-created and community-led events are enhanced by exciting collaborations with new and different voices.”

Ms Jones said: “My focus will be on working with the team to ensure safe, sustainable and friendly environments for all to enjoy a rich and diverse cultural programme.

“As a Swansea University graduate with so many happy memories of the Singleton Campus, this really feels like a homecoming”.