Meet the Team - The Dart

Meet The Dart Team!

Laura Day - Arts Centre Manager

Having spent 15 years working in a Service Management role in the corporate world I decided to follow my passion for the Arts and completed a BA and MA in Fine Art at Winchester School of Art as a mature student.

I have spent the last six years working as a Freelance Artist/Educator. This involved a variety of community-based outreach and engagement programmes in education settings, art galleries and charities across the South Coast including Winchester School of Art, John Hansard Gallery, Hampshire Cultural Trust and the Hampshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.

I have a true passion for helping to encourage and support local communities to access the Arts and realise their creative potential. I am really excited to have joined the Wildern Academy Trust and am looking forward to taking The Dart Centre into its next chapter.

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Jasmine Guthrie - Arts Centre Assistant

Wildern is the place where I first discovered my passion for photography and creativity, having been a student here. I’m really happy to be back and working at The Dart Centre!

I studied Photography in further education before becoming a Sales Assistant then Floor Manager in a large retail store, where I moved my creative and visual skills into visual merchandising.

I have been in a customer-facing job since I was 16 and I’m happy to provide a friendly and helpful service to everyone who enters The Dart Centre. I have a real passion to make everything beautiful, including your experience here with us!

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Sarah Peters - Arts Centre Assistant

I have always been a creative person; I studied BA (hons) in Photography at Arts University Bournemouth and then moved onto MA in Visual Communications at Solent University for two years. I also taught young and mature students as a volunteer mentor during my masters, guiding the students in their creative studies.

After graduating, I took the opportunity to take on an internship at Solent in Retail Management and Merchandising at their student-owned shop, Re:So, for 6 months. I specialised in events and organising markets in the local Southampton area and other parts of Hampshire. This helped me professionally to realise that my passion was working within a community whilst using my creative skills in curation and photography.

I am excited to be starting this new journey with the Dart and Wildern School and looking forward to meeting and working with the local creative community, whether you are an amateur, professional, or enthusiast in the arts.

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Holly Woolner - Arts Centre Evening Receptionist (Monday and Wednesday)

The theatre arts has always been a huge passion of mine, and since graduating with a Drama and Theatre Arts degree from Middlesex University, my enthusiasm has never wavered!

Through my studies, training, travels over the world, and professional experience in the entertainment and education sectors, including the Walt Disney Corporation, Celebrity Cruises, and NHS communication skills training, I feel incredibly fortunate to have developed my passion for making valuable human connections; something that has really helped me this past decade when running our children’s drama business with my husband.

I am thrilled to be part of the amazing team here at The Dart and look forward to meeting wonderful people and sharing in their inspiring creativity!

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Kate Cameron - Arts Centre Evening Receptionist (Tuesday and Friday)

Dream Team

I have enjoyed a variety of roles based in front of house, and even had my own nail studio for many years, before letting that go to take up a career in the NHS, where I stayed for 18 years – retiring just 2 years ago to devote more time to my own Holistic Wellness business.

From a very early age, I have had a deep love of music, playing the piano before I started school, learning the recorder at Primary, and going on to teach myself guitar and clarinet at Secondary school. I sang as part of school and church choirs, and even had a folk group with my sister before leaving school, writing and singing our own songs, but the classics have always been my default happy place.

Throughout my life, I have enjoyed crafting in many forms, decorating fairy doors and trinket boxes, making bags from remnant fabrics, and using natural things like feathers to make ceremonial fans. During lockdown, I discovered, and immersed myself in diamond-art, and have completed many pieces, with many more waiting to be done.

Joining The Dart team has been an absolute joy and brings a new dimension to my world, like a breath of fresh air. In time, I hope to be able to share some of my world with everyone here, so, watch this space!

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Write to us at: The Dart Centre, Wildern Lane, Hedge End, SO30 4EJ
Email us at: community@thedart.co.uk
Talk to us on: 01489 779471