Using creativity to challenge assumptions and widen understanding.

As an artist, mother within the cleft community and founder of the 100 Cleft Portraits project, I work with schools to explore representation, identity, facial difference, belonging and the ways we learn to see one another.

These sessions create space for students and staff to think beyond diagnosis, appearance and first impressions.

Through portraiture, storytelling, exhibitions and creative workshops, students are invited to explore what cannot always be seen immediately: personality, humour, courage, experience, connection and individuality.

This pathway may include:

Whole-school assemblies and inspirational talks

Cleft awareness and education

Facial difference, representation and inclusion

Talks drawing on lived experience as a mother and advocate

Portrait and identity-based art workshops

Exhibitions from the 100 Cleft Portraits collection

Creative workshops for pupils, families or staff

Support for art, PSHE, wellbeing and inclusion programmes

Bespoke projects connected to a school’s curriculum or community

Longer-term creative residencies or advocacy projects

The Abbey School, Reading

In October at The Abbey School in Reading, I am developing a two-day artist, speaker and exhibition visit bringing together art, lived experience, student creativity and community connection.

The visit includes a whole-school assembly, an exhibition of portraiture, a student workshop and opportunities for pupils, families and staff to engage with the work.

The creative workshop, Portraits Beyond First Impressions, invites students to use line, shape, colour and words to communicate something about a person that cannot be understood simply by looking at their face.

The wider project encourages pupils to question assumptions and understand that nobody is simply a diagnosis, a visible difference, a medical story or a before-and-after image.