Meet the Team

Kate Adams MBE is an artist, advocate and activist. She has initiated and curated many responsive, collaborative projects with people who have complex support needs, families, caregivers, artists and galleries. Kate co-founded Project Art Works in 1997 to foster greater equity and representation in art and culture. Her practice and research explore the expansive nature of nonspeaking experience.

Helen Charlton, Development Director, joined Project Art Works in 2019. She has extensive experience across social care and cultural sectors, specialising in project management, professional development, audience development, marketing, communications and fundraising. With qualifications in Visual Culture, Arts and Cultural Management, Film Production and Marketing, Helen is also Project Art Works’ deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead and Mental Health First Aider.

Jessica Courtney Bennett leads communications across the charity, sharing its work with local, national and international audiences. Jessica also manages the In Residence Gallery at 12 Claremont and runs Art on Loan, championing neurodivergent artists through inclusive, accessible platforms.

Tim Corrigan is an artist, filmmaker and Creative Director at Project Art Works. He has worked with the organisation since its foundation, contributing significantly to its leadership. Through his filmmaking practice, Tim has shaped the organisation’s use of moving image to create environments, support activism and advocacy, and enableneurodivergent people to challenge perceptions and representation.

Sara Dare is a painter and installation artist who has exhibited internationally and curated group exhibitions in London. With a BA in Fine Art Painting and PGCE in Art and Design, she applies her experience to socially engaged practice. At Project Art Works, Sara has worked as a lead artist, project coordinator and collaborator with families, carers and partner organisations.

Sarah is an artist facilitator, advocate, activist, poet, mediator and teacher at Project Art Works. Her creative practice spans poetry, photography and ceramics, inspired bypeople and their stories. With a background in social care, education and healthcare, Sarah brings interconnected experience to her work, supporting self-expression, individual creativity and empowerment.

Patricia Finnegan is an artist, artist facilitator and project manager. Her work with Project Art Works spans supporting individual artists, managing the children and young people’s programmes, and delivering large-scale offsite projects. Her practice is rooted in the belief that creativity extends beyond traditional arts spaces, connecting with everyday life and experience.

Leila McMillan is a multidisciplinary artist with a background in fine art and sculpture, alongside skills in knitting, sewing and fiddle-making. She moved to St Leonards-on-Sea in 2005 and connected with Project Art Works through her daughter, Eden. After working on projects as an artist, Leila is now the resident archivist.

Lorenzo is a Birmingham-based artist, musician and researcher with experience working across archives. He studied at Dartington College of Arts and holds a Master’s in SonicArt and PhD in Music from the University of Sheffield. His work includes cataloguing the Longplayer Archive, and roles with Dudley Archives, Modern Records Centre and Birmingham Media Archive Project.

Wendy Routley is Head of Finance & Operations at Project Art Works. She joined the organisation permanently in 2004 after working as a freelance finance officer. Her role has evolved to encompass financial and operational planning across the organisation. Wendy is also the Designated Safeguarding Lead and a Mental Health First Aider.

Gabrielle is an experienced philanthropy and fundraising professional with over two decades’ experience building partnerships across the arts, education and international development sectors. Having worked internationally, she has led major giving programmes for organisations including Oxfam and The Nature Conservancy. Based in the UK, Gabrielle supports Project Art Works through values-led fundraising.

Georgie is an artist and photographer who has worked with Project Art Works since 2016. Her socially engaged practice explores storytelling through multimedia. Georgie has worked for the national press, in the charity and development sector, overseas and in the UK.  She is currently studying an MA in Art Therapy at the University of Hertfordshire.

Katie Taylor has over ten years’ experience as a creative producer and project manager, working across community engagement and participation. She is also a writer and performer developing sensory approaches to storytelling. At Project Art Works, Katie manages the in-house creative programme, supporting artists to collaborate, developtheir practices and realise their creative ambitions.

Andrew is a musician and art facilitator whose work creates inclusive and subtly responsive environments where people can engage with sound, music and art in ways that suit them. They have worked with Project Artworks since 2016, alongside community, care and participatory arts contexts. They studied Photographic Arts at degree level and are currently studying an MA in Music Therapy at the University of Roehampton.

Oliver Crowther is an artist working across a range of media. His practice considers the role of the artist in contemporary society, exploring agency and autonomy through image-making, sound and built environments. Before joining Project Art Works, Oliver taught on the Hastings Foundation Course and has an MFA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths University.

Mark Daniels make foxes and draws every day. Wild encounters inspire his work, including his ‘Skulk’ Project, where I recreate each fox I see in clay, carefully matching its colours and markings. Mark has completed 900 foxes, alongside daily sketches and life-sized animal artworks exploring fur, feathers, and observation.

Dion Downes is an artist and specialist support worker living and working in Hastings. Since 2012, he has studied health and social care, supporting people with learning disabilities to develop and maintain independent living skills. Alongside this, Dion creates art exploring optical illusions and dimensions. He advocates for social inclusion, personalisation and neurodiversity.

Charlotte studied illustration at Camberwell School of Art and has built her career supporting artists. She has worked with arts and health organisations, including the NHS mental health service in Sussex. Currently at Outside In, she delivers exhibitions. Charlotte is committed to learning and unlearning through inclusive creative collaboration, exchange and art.

Annis Joslin is an artist and filmmaker who has worked with Project Art Works as Lead Artist Associate since 2003. Her collaborative practice explores lived experiencethrough conversations, participation and playful, reflective processes, creating lens-based digital artworks. She also works with Sarah Cole as Cole & Joslin and co-directs Corridor, a South East social arts organisation.

Tom Lepora is an artist, painter, maker and breaker. His varied background spans mentalhealth, boat restoration and third-sector environments. His practice focuses on relationships with people who have been marginalised, with connection and trust at its heart. Using found materials, Tom creates objects that are kept, recycled or gifted, alongside workshops exploring making and breaking.

Peter Quinnell studied at Chelsea and the Royal College of Art and has worked with collage and assemblage for 40 years as an artist and illustrator. From 1984–1999, he was half of pioneering collage duo Archer/Quinnell. His work spans magazines, books, music, advertising and exhibitions. He teaches and leads community workshops in Hastings.

Maya Shapiro Steen studied painting at the Slade School of Fine Art and completed anMA in the Anthropology of Visual and Material Culture at UCL. Her practice explores social and cultural contexts of making, alongside their uses and boundaries. Through arts education and facilitation, she is particularly interested in access to meaningful, expressive engagement with materials.