Staff spotlight: Lynne Brackley

26 January 2016

1. How long have you worked at AND, and what do you do here?

I’ve worked with AND as a freelancer for about 6 years. My current contract started in September 2015. I’m the Artsmark Officer.

2. What are you working on at the moment?

I’m supporting schools that want to gain their Artsmark award. This involves attending events to give out information about the new process, organising and delivering the development days that all participating schools attend and being available to answer people’s Artsmark questions.

3. Where are you from/where did you grow up?

I was born in Amersham General Hospital. I moved around a lot when I was a child because my father kept building new houses. My adolescence was spent in Bedford. There weren’t many highlights unless you count the rugby club disco.

4. Favourite part of your job, and highlight from your time here?

I like getting out and talking to people about their work and new possibilities that could take them out of the ordinary. The best times are when I see contacts being made between schools that will lead to something exciting: a new partnership, approach or event.

5. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Guerilla knitting, speaking other languages, singing, holidays, community politics, talking to my (big) kids.

6. What’s the best cultural event you saw in London last year?

I can’t really remember much about last year. I did enjoy the recent Lumière festival. Away from the sea of selfie-sticks, some people actually looked at stuff and it was grand.

7. If you weren’t doing this job what would you be doing instead?

Knitting more sculpture. Learning something new.

8. What did you want to be when you grew up when were a child?

Flight attendant. Honestly.

9. What’s your party trick?

When I can remember the words, I can deliver my version of ‘The (Inter) Continental’ about the perils of dancing during a nuclear missile strike.

10. If you could have any super power, what would it be?

I would like a brain that could understand stuff like Kepler’s third law without bursting a blood vessel. Or super-speed knitting.

11. If you could have 5 people around for dinner – anyone from history, dead or alive – who would you have?

Caryl Churchill (she made a play out of this idea and she’s a top girl herself), Brian Cox (to help me with Q10 challenge), Benjamin Zephaniah (for his laugh and his way with words), Rosa Parks (because one person can make a difference) and my cantankerous old Spanish grandad who was a chef at the Savoy. Someone’s got to cook; it won’t be me.

12. If you could be any animal, what animal would you be?

A lemur.

13. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

In all things, you get out what you put in.

You can find out more about the work Lynne does on Artsmark Award here