The Get the Chance Associates support the aims of our organisation and act in an advisory role.
Jonny Cotsen
Jonny Cotsen is a dreamer. Always exploring new ways to express his creativity. He sometimes sees himself as a teacher, at other times as an artist but he is dedicated to try and make theatre to be more inclusive and accessible. It’s about non-disabled people realising that deaf people are part of the fabric of society, so Jonny feels that he needs to change theatre and drama, to change hearts and perceptions, and challenge those prejudices that people have.
Jafar Iqbal
Jafar is a professional arts critic, currently penning reviews and articles for The Stage, Media Wales and his own blog, Critically Speaking. He has been reviewing theatre and the arts for almost a decade, including shows in London and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He is also an arts marketer, and currently works as a Campaigns Manager for the New Theatre in Cardiff. When not in a theatre, Jafar is an avid cinema and live performance fan, and can often be found at local music and comedy gigs. He is also a budding scriptwriter, having gained an MA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media.
https://criticallyspeaking.com
Rhys Milsom
Rhys is a poet, writer, reviewer and a creative writing tutor/workshop facilitator based in Cardiff. His fiction and poetry has been widely published, including in Wales Arts Review, Litro Magazine, and The Lonely Crowd, amongst others. His debut poetry collection, Amnesia, is published by Onion Custard Publishing.
Rhys has spoken and read at various literary spaces, including Dylan Thomas Day, Balloon: Bard Brains, was guest reader at Poems and Pints at the Queens in Carmarthen, Cheltenham Poetry Festival, Cwtch in Newport with the author Steve Howell, Milieu, Sherman Sessions and Lit on the Lawn.
He was awarded The Short Story’s Young Writers Award in February 2016, a revered and bustling worldwide competition
Keith Murrell
I am Butetown born and bred and lived and worked in the community for most of my life – I currently live in Grangetown.
Keith is a singer, DJ, community representative and keen photographer. Keith has recently continued to organise Butetown Carnival and is committed to supporting access to art and culture to a range of communities.
Chloe Clarke Phillips
Chloe Clarke (Phillips) is an actor and theatre practitioner with a specialist knowledge of audio description and a passion for creative access to the arts. Associate Artist of Taking Flight Theatre Company, Cardiff, she’s committed to creating innovative, exciting work that challenges preconceptions and connects social/cultural groups.
Jon Pountney
I am a professional photographer and artist, living and working in Cardiff for the last 19 years. My work is inspired by memory, nostalgia, social history and community and I work across a variety of mediums. Primarily I use film and digital photography but I am equally as comfortable and proficient painting or using video or super8 to present my work. A very important component in my work is social media, allowing the audience a level of interaction, collaboration, and participation that would have been impossible 10 years ago. I have a proven track record in bringing community involvement to projects, opening up artistic practice to audiences alienated by conventional presentations in galleries.
In addition to my freelance photography and artistic practice, I have extensive experience of curatorial work; for three years I ran a ‘pop up’ bi-monthly exhibition entitled ‘Art in the Warehouse’ together with fellow artist Rebecca Wyn Kelly, and ‘Fotofringe’, an annual photography festival, in its third year. These events served as a platform for all artists and are open to everyone; attracting hundreds of visitors across the many events now held.
I have undertaken many major projects since 2010. For over five years I have worked on the social history project ‘Cardiff before Cardiff’, which resulted in the largest photography exhibition ever held in the Wales Millennium Centre, as well as a recent book of the same title published by Y Lolfa in December 2012. The original ‘Cardiff before Cardiff’ Tumblr won ‘Best Multimedia blog’ at the 2012 Wales Blog Awards. The Facebook page is very vibrant, approaching 10,000 likes; its post reach recently topped over 100,000 views in a week.
https://www.facebook.com/cardiffforever/
For the last year I have been working with the older residents of Cardiff’s Llanrumney suburb and the Cardiff Story museum to create the first detailed photographic survey of the area, marking its 60th anniversary. Using photography and moving image films, the project will show how the area came to be. A work in progress, some of the photography can be seen here
Samantha Shaw
Sam has been trained by the British Council in Active Citizenship. Sam is a community journalist who researches, produces the content and also presents her own weekly shows. She provides a platform for many Third Sector agencies, charities and individuals to promote their causes and awarenss/fundraising events.
Sam is also presently chair of Kitchener Primary school PTA. Publicity officer for Taff Tenants Association, and in her younger years played lead cornet in south Glamorgan youth brass band . Whilst 16-19 yrs old Sam travelled around France,Spain and Portugal as a circus performer/ busker/ fire dancer/ singer plus fruit picking and farm work!