A fond farewell to Rose
As she gets ready to take on her next chapter, we want to say a big thank you to our co-founder and Creative Director of 35 years Rose Kent.
Through her work with AAM, Rose changed the face of the arts scene here in York and further afield. And made sure that voices that wouldn’t normally be heard have been given a spotlight and a platform.
It's hard to estimate how many lives have been changed by Rose and everything she's done over the years. The participants whose lives have been enriched through inclusive arts, the many freelance artists who’ve worked for AAM, staff members and volunteers. We all have stories of how our lives have been made that bit better and a lot more fun by having Rose in them.
Rose has led with authenticity and compassion, and given others the strength to do the same. And this is shown by how she'd magically turn AAM volunteers into staff members who then never leave!
Rose injects fun, love, kindness and a sense of wonder and joy into everything she does, even through the harder times. She sees the positive in every situation, and like a swan, remains calm on the face of it, while working tirelessly to make things happen. She's honest, she listens with compassion and she's Our Rose.
Thanks for the fun Rose, from all of us staff, participants and volunteers. We’ll miss your crazy spreadsheets, ridiculous song suggestions and daft garden games at our summer parties. And we’ll miss you. Now go and get yourself on your sofa, put your feet up and have a good rest!
Our brilliant participants said their goodbyes to Rose in inimitable AAM fashion. IMPs, Hands & Voices and Movers & Shakers all created their own tributes to Rose and performed them at our Let's Party gig. You can check out their performances in this YouTube playlist.