Jonathan Gunson

Dr Jonathan Gunson was born in the United Kingdom in 1989. He is a researcher and policy

analyst specialising in the cultural sector.

His particular areas of research interests currently include arts philanthropy and cultural

patronage, heritage and history, cultural policy and the economics of culture, and policy on

both a regional and national level. He also has interests surrounding comparative political

geographies, the political economy and history of arts philanthropy and arts funding, the

relationships between philanthropic and religious traditions, religion and the arts, the

history of cultural patronage, the history of theatre and the performing arts between the

mid 19th and mid 20th Centuries, historical traditions of giving, and the landscapes and

geographies of civil society.

Having studied at the University of Edinburgh, Maastricht University, and completed his

doctorate at Coventry University, Jonathan has worked in in the cultural sector in both a

research and practical sense, then moving into freelance research, and has a strong

understanding of the cultural sector.

Outside of research, Jonathan has also been involved in the cultural sector more practically,

including in cultural events. He currently works in particular with those in areas surrounding

arts fundraising and arts philanthropy, in addition to having interests in the theatre and

performing arts sector.