Lewisham School of Muralism, a Spacehive community crowdfunding project in South East London will dedicate their final mural to Deptford homeless charity 999 Club, who this year celebrate 30 years of supporting people experiencing homelessness. The mural will be unveiled on Friday April 8th 2022 at 4.30pm
Lewisham School of Muralism was set up by South London muralism experts Artmongers during the Covid pandemic as a pilot to develop the best way to teach young people the complex processes of mural painting. The first and only school of its kind, its unique approach teaches students to bring art to the streets by engaging others in their creative process and helping communities reimagine and reclaim their environment.
The School was fundraised the Spacehive crowdfunding platform. With backers including Goldsmiths University London, the Greater London Authority, Lewisham Council, Brewers decorator centres and 300 personal pledges from local people, the project successfully reached its target of £62,000.
Honouring the 999 Club with its final mural will create permanent visibility in the Deptford area to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the charity whose work is dedicated to supporting and providing a warm and welcoming environment to anyone who is homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Founder of Lewisham School of Muralism and Artmonger Director Patricio Forrester said: “We are proud of what we have achieved: a streamlined process of teaching, a capable team of mentors, coordinators, a large group of muralists creating great work across London involving others in the process and 34 murals. We want to create the London School of Muralism next.”
Tom Neumark, CEO 999 Club commented: “We are delighted that Lewisham School of Muralism has chosen to support 999 Club in their fantastic project, helping to celebrate our 30th Anniversary. People that use 999 Club’s services have been involved in every stage of the design of this fantastic new mural. It is fantastic that everyone can now see the finished piece which is full of energy and creativity, much like the people that use our services!”
Misha Dhanak CEO at Spacehive said: “The ambition that Patricio and the team at Lewisham School of Muralism have shown is impressive and Spacehive is proud to support them in inspiring a generation of new artists that are making local community spaces better. This initial pilot, which was funded in part by the Mayor through Make London, is just the start of an impressive legacy and we have already seen graduates from the School of Muralism return to deliver their own crowdfunding campaigns for similarity brilliant projects.”
