East Street Arts is recruiting an experienced Chair to lead our Board of Trustees through an exciting new phase of growth.

East Street Arts is recruiting an experienced Chair to lead our Board of Trustees as we enter a significant new phase of development, including an exciting capital project in Keighley.

About East Street Arts

East Street Arts is a visual arts organisation and registered charity based in Leeds, working nationally to support artists to develop resilient and sustainable practices. Founded in 1993 by artists Karen Watson and Jon Wakeman, we’ve become one of the UK’s leading artist-led organisations, providing affordable workspaces, artist development, research, public programmes and creative partnerships that create positive social and cultural impact.

Today we operate across Patrick Studios, Convention House, our new capital project in Keighley, and Meanwhile Spaces across England and Wales. We believe artists play a vital role in shaping healthier, more creative and more connected communities; our vision is simple: artists will create positive change.

Find out more about our work, our values and our current Board on our About and Staff and Trustees pages.

Why we’re recruiting a Chair

East Street Arts is entering an exciting period of organisational growth. Alongside delivering an ambitious artistic programme, we continue to strengthen our artist support offer, expand our portfolio of creative spaces and develop new partnerships across the UK. We’re also progressing an important capital development in Keighley, which will further increase our impact and long-term sustainability.

As our organisation grows, so too does the importance of strong, collaborative governance. We’re looking for an experienced Chair who can provide strategic leadership to the Board, support our Executive Team, champion our values, and help ensure East Street Arts continues to thrive: remaining well governed, financially resilient and strategically ambitious.

Working closely with our Executive Director, Artistic Director and Board of Trustees, the Chair provides strategic leadership to the Board and fosters an inclusive, effective Board culture, while supporting and constructively challenging the Executive Team. The role carries responsibility for good governance and legal compliance, and for championing equality, diversity and inclusion. The Chair also supports fundraising and partnership development, represents East Street Arts with funders, partners and stakeholders, and helps guide the organisation through its next phase of growth.

This is an opportunity to make a lasting contribution to artists, communities and the wider cultural sector.

Who we’re looking for

Because of the scale of this role, we’re looking for candidates who already bring significant Board-level or senior governance experience – this isn’t a first Board position. Specifically, you should be able to demonstrate:

Previous Board or senior governance experience, including chairing boards, committees or equivalent senior groups
Strategic leadership experience and a track record of supporting and constructively challenging senior executives
Financial oversight and organisational sustainability experience
Experience leading organisational change, developing partnerships and engaging stakeholders
Experience acting as an ambassador for an organisation
A sound understanding of charity governance, company law and Trustee responsibilities, and of strategic planning and risk management
Excellent communication and strategic thinking, with the collaborative leadership and strong judgement to build consensus while challenging constructively

It would also be an advantage to bring:

Experience of charity leadership, capital or property projects, or publicly funded arts or cultural organisations
Fundraising experience
Local government or public sector partnership experience
A background in the creative industries

Alongside this experience, we’re looking for someone who is collaborative, inclusive, curious and thoughtful, confident and supportive, values-led, and committed to artists and creativity.

East Street Arts is committed to building a diverse Board that reflects the communities we serve. We know that senior governance experience is built in many different settings, and we welcome applications from people who meet the experience requirements above from a broad range of backgrounds, including people currently underrepresented within arts leadership and charity governance, such as people from Global Majority backgrounds, disabled people, LGBTQIA+ communities, younger people, and people with lived experience relevant to our work.

We’re committed to making our recruitment process accessible and will provide reasonable adjustments throughout.

Find out more and apply

Read the full Chair of the Board of Trustees recruitment pack for the complete role description, person specification and background on East Street Arts.

To apply, send us a copy of your CV and a cover letter (max 2 A4 pages), or a voice recording or video (max 5 minutes), in an easily downloadable format. In your cover letter, please include your name and contact details, confirmation that you have the capacity to commit to becoming a Trustee, and:

Why you want to become Chair of East Street Arts
What experience you would bring to the Board of Trustees

Please send your application to recruitment@esamail.org.uk.

Applications close on 4 October, 2026.

If you require an adjustment to the above forms of application for any reason, please contact us by emailing hello@esamail.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.

Chair Trustee

East Street Arts

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Chair of the Board of Trustees

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