Bye bye and thank you Natalia

This week we say goodbye and thank you to Natalia Palombo, who’s stepping down as Director. Natalia arrived in Huntly at the start of 2021, since when she has led Deveron Projects on an extraordinary journey that has seen the organisation transformed in many ways.

Natalia's directorship immediately took on the ambitious capital development of Square Deal, upgrading an empty building to state of the art artist studio/accommodation and a bustling community hub in the heart of Huntly’s town centre. Her artistic programme extended residencies to work with artists from all over Scotland and around the globe for longer periods of time, enriching the local cultural landscape with new artwork, public events and knowledge exchange. Deveron Projects is also now a leading Fair Work employer, following Natalia’s overhaul of our approach to paying artists and staff. She has personally invested much time into building positive new partnerships for Deveron Projects around the world and across Scotland, as well as locally within Huntly.

Underpinning all of this work has been Natalia’s passionate commitment to making art that addresses urgent social, cultural and political issues, with a particular focus on the wellbeing of Deveron Projects’ local communities and staff. Collaboration has been a keynote of Natalia’s distinctive leadership here, which over time has led to her single director-curator role being split into a new co-leadership model – a gradual shift which Natalia crafted with characteristic care and humility.

Thank you Natalia, for all of your wonderful work. You leave behind an organisation and many friends who are greatly changed by your time here.

A note from Yunior Aguiar, chair of the Deveron Projects board until 2022

"Having Natalia as the organisation's director for the past three and a half years has been amazing, we couldn't hope for a better person to continue building on the legacy of Deveron Project. Natalia and the team have reviewed the working methodologies and enhanced them exponentially. Seeing the team fostering and nurturing a culture of cooperation, respect, innovation and collaboration has been a fantastic testament to her amazing leadership. It is inspiring to see how Natalia and the team are constantly thinking about what is best for the town, its community and how to make Deveron Project a sustainable organisation, trailblazing good practices within the arts and culture landscape of Scotland and the world."

And from Alan Macpherson, Chair of Deveron Projects board from 2022:

"What a pleasure it has been having the opportunity to work with Natalia! If I was to choose three words (only three?) to describe her directorship of Deveron Projects, they would be professionalism, sincerity and generosity. These qualities combine in the way Natalia led the slow, careful reinvigoration of the organisation, what it seeks to achieve and how it does this. They are evident throughout her leadership of the team, how she works with artists and art workers, and the communities of Huntly and elsewhere, local and international. Perhaps above all, I see these attributes in the way Natalia has handled her transition away from Deveron and the spirit in which she recognised equally vital qualities in Jenny, Matthew and Misa and helped them, and us, to reshape the organisation in a thoughtful, collaborative, future-oriented way. So, thank you, Natalia, for your professionalism, sincerity, generosity, and all that you have brought to Deveron Projects."

From 1 February 2023, Deveron Projects team consists of: Misa Brzezicki (Programme Coordinator), Matthew Evans (Co-Director, Operations) and Jenny Salmean (Co-Director, Creative).