Welcome to our two new Patrons

We’re delighted to announce that we now have two new patrons. Sarah McIntyre is our Patron for Art and Literature and Ian Mortimer is our Patron for History and Heritage. They join Patrice Naiambana, our wonderful Patron for Performing Arts.

Patron (noun): a person chosen, named, or honored as a special guardian, protector, or supporter. Merriam-Webster.

Thank you Sarah and Ian for becoming special guardians, protectors and supporters of Bovey Paradiso Arts!

Sarah McIntyre – Bovey Based Author – Becomes Patron for Art and Literature

Bovey-based author and artist Sarah McIntyre has written and illustrated over 30 books, both solo and with Widecombe-based co-author Philip Reeve. They recently launched a new series for early readers (5+) called ADVENTUREMICE. Sarah creates her books and artwork in one of the Paradiso's upstairs studios, and does regular events with our local bookshop, First Draft Books.

Originally from Seattle, Sarah studied Russian Lit at university and only went to art college at the age of 30 to earn an MA in Illustration at Camberwell. In 2015, she started a campaign with colleague James Mayhew called #PicturesMeanBusiness, showing people how everyone benefits when illustrators are credited properly for their work. For her efforts, the Society of Authors made her an honourary Fellow, and Exeter-based artist Soni Speight built an explanatory website, PicturesMeanBusiness.com. She has raised concerns on BBC Spotlight about an uncritical embrace of Artificial Intelligence by the UK government, and seeks to find ways forward for artists in the face of the new AI technology. One of her solutions is to look more locally with her work, building real-life relationships in the community in a way that can't be replicated by computers. Becoming a Patron of Bovey Paradiso fits beautifully into this strategy!

Discover more about her work on her website - jabberworks.co.uk - and meet the storybook mice at Adventuremice.com.

Ian Mortimer – Historian & Writer – Becomes Patron for History and Heritage

Ian lives in Moretonhampstead and is a British historian and writer of historical fiction. He’s best known for his book The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England which became a Sunday Times bestseller in 2010.

He is the author of thirteen history books, two volumes of historical documents, four novels, three other books, and about thirty peer-reviewed articles on the history of England between the tenth and twentieth centuries. In total, his books have sold more than 1.4 million copies and been translated into sixteen languages. He has been described by The Times as 'the most remarkable medieval historian of our time', principally on account of his series of late-medieval historical biographies. His work on the social history of medicine won the Alexander Prize in 2004 and was published by the Royal Historical Society in 2009.

Ian is currently the president of the Moretonhampstead History Society and vice president of the Mortimer History Society. He has twice served as a Secretary-of-State-appointed Member of Dartmoor National Park Authority, in 2003-7 (representing local parishes) and 2009-17 (representing the national interest).

Find out more about Ian's fascinating work on his website here.

Thank you!

As well as the various skills of our Directors and invaluable volunteers, we also draw on advisors from the community. We believe that the depth of expertise that patrons bring help us strengthen our offer even more. We are extremely lucky to have Sarah and Ian in the Paradiso Team. We’re looking forward to working together to celebrate one another and support the community here in Bovey Tracey and surrounding areas - thank you both.