Community Outreach

Heatherleys

In 1974, Heatherleys was established as a charity, the Thomas Heatherley Educational Trust, with the aim of benefiting the public by advancing education in the fine arts. Over 50 years later, we continue to share our professional expertise and facilities as a cultural resource for the wider community.

Under the guidance of Outreach Coordinator Diana Horton, we actively seek new opportunities to strengthen our links with local communities and organisations. By working with people of all ages and backgrounds, we witness the vital role art can play not only as a means of individual self-expression, creativity, and mental wellbeing, but also as a tool for fostering community spirit and social cohesion. Our goal is to open up the world of visual arts to those who may have previously felt that art was distant or inaccessible.

Outreach Projects

We collaborate and partner with local hospitals and schools to share our skills and enthusiasm with young people. Past projects include:

The Royal Marsden Hospital, Chelsea and Sutton: experimental drawing and observation workshops where medical and administrative staff worked together
The Globe Ark Academy, Elephant and Castle, inspiring their love of drawing
Chelsea Academy school; pupils regularly attend sculpture and printmaking sessions in our specialist studios which has contributed to their portfolios for arts university places
Chelsea Academy and St Marylebone Church of England School: sixth formers were invited to attend our Open Studio life drawing sessions in preparation for further art education.
Hallfield Primary school; new initiative helping inner city children to think imaginatively as they discovered the fascinating world of nature through drawing
St Marylebone Church of England School in Bayswater: Heatherleys tutors and students collaborated with GCSE Art pupils. They were shown how to engrave etchings in our printmaking studio, making images in celebration of the lives and work of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and scientist Jane Wardle, commemorating the centenary of women obtaining the vote in 1918. Their prints were displayed to the public at the Royal Brompton Visitors centre, and in Heatherleys own Conservatory Gallery and then at University College London. The prints were later also published in book form.

New links built with our local community:

Heatherleys tutors led drawing sessions at the newly opened visitors centre at the Brompton Cemetery in partnership with SMART, a therapeutic group sponsoring rehabilitation and training through the arts.
Practical support to national and local charitable arts societies who share our aims.
Prizes offered to acknowledge achievement and encourage aspiring and emerging artists attempting to develop a career in the Fine Arts.

Please email Diana Horton at diana@heatherleys.org if you would like to hear more about how we could work with your group or organisation.