Our Team

Our Team

 
 

Patricio Forrester

Patricio Forrester is the founder of the London School of Muralism. He is also the artist behind Artmongers, an organisation specialising in public art since 2003. In his over 30 murals in the UK and overseas, he often combines elements of a situationist approach with humour and colour. His art comes from the belief that communities should take ownership of the spaces they inhabit, and changing dead spaces through participatory art can lead to enhanced wellbeing and social cohesion.

Patricio came to London from Buenos Aires in 1995 to do an MFA at Goldsmiths. After graduation, he started to take his art to the streets through painting and wearing artworks everywhere he went. He then transitioned to participatory processes and large scale murals.

One of his most loved works, Deptford Pearls (2001), overlooks Deptford High Street and has become iconic for the Borough. Other murals in the area include A Thousand Feet Will Follow (2019), By The Way/Marquis of Granby (2017) and Round About Now (2018). He has also made work for hospitals and refugee camps, as well as a series of interventions in remote communities in various countries such as Scotland, The Gambia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Jordan, Spain and Argentina.

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A. Dee

The Artful Dodger (A. Dee) is a first-generation veteran of the London Urban Art/Aerosol Writing scene going back to the early 1980s, serving as an influence to some of today’s top UK artists in that field.

Originally being influenced by art masters such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, and later, Salvador Dali in his early art career, once he established his reputation as an urban artist he made the transition from the streets to the corporate world, evolving professionally to have clients which include LucasFilm (Star Wars), Heathrow Airport, EA Games, MTV, The South Bank Show, The Sunday Times, as well as a well-known breakfast cereal.

On the community arts side of his portfolio, he has a strong background in both organising and facilitating a variety of creative mural projects and workshops. Working mainly in inner cities with disadvantaged youth and other young people (through children’s arts charities such as SP8 Of The Art), he also been involved in projects in the US and throughout Europe, as well as all over the UK.

Follow Adee - Artful Dodger on Instagram.

 

Lionel Stanhope

A Lewisham resident for over 15 years Lionel has played a major part in bringing Street Art and murals to the Borough.

After taking part in the first Brockley Street Art Festival in 2015 he and others carried on with the festival for the next few years organising many paintings and art that can be seen in Brockley and surrounding areas.

Lionel trained as a signwriter when leaving school and his love of Typography can be seen in many of the named rail signs locally in the now iconic ‘hotdog’ shape including Hither Green, Catford, Forest Hill and Brockley.

His 25 year career in painting Theatre and Film Sets has served him well when it comes to painting large scale work and we are very pleased in having his support at the London School of Muralism.

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Nadina Ali

Nadina Ali is self-taught graphic artist originally from Marseille, currently based in London. She is passionate about social justice, representation  and inclusivity and uses typography and bold colours to create artworks that address those topics. She aims to challenge the status quo and amplify the voices of under-represented people through her work.

Nadina graduated from Lewisham School of Muralism (now London School of Muralism) in 2021.

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Gary Drostle

Gary Drostle started working as a professional mural artist in 1987 when he set up Haringey Mural Workshop. His mural creations are usually figurative and symbolic, drawing on site specific themes and local histories. 

Since those first murals Gary has expanded his practice to include mosaic and sculptural works and has won numerous awards for his work across the UK and the USA.

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Liv Wright

Liv joined LSoM as part of the first cohort and on finishing the course became the schools coordinator and an ongoing member of the Artmongers team. She has a background in theatre design having trained at Central School of Speech and Drama where she teaches as a visiting lecturer in BA Theatre Practice. She has worked internationally in set and costume design before landing a thirst for creating community engaged public art. 

On leaving the course Liv formed a collective with a group of fellow LSoM alumni. They have since delivered four large scale participatory murals in North LondoN. 34Bus Collective continues to explore their practice and widen their reach to community groups across London.

Liv will be teaching project development, from scratch to fully developed participatory mural project.

Follow 34Bus Collective on Instagram.

 

Phoenix Fry

Phoenix is an artist-producer and lecturer in arts management. He met Artmongers in 2019 when they joined his Parade of Friendly Monsters project for Deptford X. Ever since then he’s helped out as a fundraising consultant, as well as running workshops on project pitching & funding applications for London School of Muralism.

More about the Friendly Monsters Parade

 

Cristiana Bottigella

Cristiana has been an Artmongers director since January 2020. She is particularly involved in strategic planning, development and fundraising, helping Artmongers to thrive and fulfil its mission. Cristiana has over 20 years experience in the arts as a cultural producer & art manager. She is interested in socially engaged art practices and in the social impact of the arts. She a founding director of Hartslane

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Josephine Baker

Jo was a student on the first cohort of the Lewisham School of Muralism project, which was started by Artmongers in 2020. Working in the charity sector, she is an art lover and pursued it as a hobby in her spare time. Through the course she as able to build her confidence as an artist and was able to learn about technique and painting at scale. After the course she was hooked! She became a Director of Artmongers in 2021.

 

Neus Gil Cortes

Neus joined Artmongers as an advisor in 2016, becoming coordinator in 2020 to help us fundraise and undergo organisational development. She is a professional dancer and choreographer with over ten years of experience in managing teams of people, project planning and fundraising as director of Nua Dance. She is interested in how arts of any medium can bring people together by moving, energising or provoking them.

 

John Newbigin

John is the co-founder and Chair of Creative England. He was previously the chair for RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) network Screen England and is a freelance journalist and strategic consultant for the creative industries. John serves on a number of boards including Culture 24, an online gateway to the UK’s cultural sector. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of East London and other international universities, and a Member of the British Council’s Advisory Board for Arts and Creative Industries.

John is our advisor on strategic partnerships helping us find a sustainable way to fund our school.