The Margate School Team

Uwe Derksen Director

Uwe began development of The Margate School in 2013, the concept being to create a place where learning, critical reflection and making can come together under one roof, to be part of the local community and to develop effective responses to the social and environmental challenges we face: art, society, nature. Uwe has over 30 years of experience in education, developing entrepreneurship programmes for students and adult learners in the community and the creative sector. His previous experience includes a position on the Board of Governors and Assistant Director for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University for the Creative Arts. Collaborating with the late Anthony Heywood, they created the sculptural Tabula Fortis in Pace series as part of the Cultural Olympiad 2012 in Dover and the Pafos Capital of Culture 2017 (Cyprus). During COVID 19 lockdown he created the Stop the War on People, Society, Nature series, a mixture of conceptual art installations and performative elements.

Maz Stuart Academic Coordinator and Support

Maz is a practicing fine artist who has been part of the School’s community since 2020 as a studio holder, student, volunteer and staff member. She has over five years of experience organising and curating exhibitions and events and runs a monthly life drawing club at Margate Arts Club.

Ruyin Nabizadeh FabLab and Knowledge Exchange

Ruyin is an Iranian visual artist and curator whose work involves installation, text and sound. With a BA and MA from the Slade School of Fine Art, he has produced and co-curated exhibitions at Artangel, British Council and sans titre.

Katie Blythe Community Learning Coordinator

Katie is a Ramsgate-based artist and researcher with a background in community engagement and arts outreach across the Thanet area, connecting with and increasing the creative participation of hard-to-reach and disadvantaged people. As an artist, Katie specialises in green woodworking and stone carving.

Dominic Rose Darkroom

Dominic is a multi-disciplinary artist whose focus is on the interaction between humans and the environment, order and chaos, the sublime and the mundane; illustrating the tension between our growing demand for resources and the interplay with the natural world. He has over a decade of experience in photographic production and darkroom processing.

Lisa Hawkins Events & Exhibitions

Lisa is primarily a painter in oils, she has a background in arts and University administration. Her main interests lie in investigation into the human condition and our connection with place through walking, drawing and painting in the landscape and she exhibits regularly. She studied both Fine Art and Myth Cosmology The Sacred at MA level at Canterbury Christ Church University and her work reflects these two interests.

Jenny Duff Communications & Marketing

With a career spent in studio, gallery, film and festival management in Margate and personally exhibiting in the UK and Internationally, Jenny brings considerable experience to The Margate School. Her practice incorporates design and fine arts approaches to producing practical homeware.

David Babaian Marketing & Webmaster

David is a British documentary street photographer, whose work regularly explores modern societal issues and has a strong emphasis on storytelling through classic photojournalism schools and a modern interpretation of the sociological relationships of subjects and their environments. Alongside his long-term projects, David works as a member of the New Exit Group collective.

Ed Gray IT Support

Ed studied Computer Science at the University of Kent and worked for Intel at their Shannon, Ireland offices after graduating. He has since returned to the UK and is involved in several local community projects.

Jane Piddock General Maintenance

Jane has an established and popular beauty therapy practice and came to TMS during COVID, when her business was paused. It has since resumed, but she hasn’t left us! She is a keen seamstress, creating clothing from disused items.

Geoff Orton Policy and Funding Advice Volunteer

Involved at the Margate Civic Society and Monkton Nature Reserve, Geoff’s previous work was in book publishing and at the MoJ. His focus at TMS is de-ghosting Margate High Street, supporting the growing creative community, easing community problems, especially through skills for employment.