Lewisham Legends: Celebrating Lewisham Educators

Lewisham was the London Borough of Culture for 2022. As part of the culture programming, the Council commissioned various arts projects across the borough. I was delighted to be selected for one of the Lewisham Legends commissions, a project celebrating local heroes and their contribution to Lewisham. Especially excited as it was my first public commission!!

People across the borough were asked to nominate their local legend via special blue post-boxes. Some of the artists were given individuals to represent, but my brief was to celebrate Lewisham ‘educators’. Since so many teachers and other education staff were nominated for the award, it seemed better to honour them as a group. I met one of my nominees, Alexandra Bourdelon, for coffee to hear about her experiences volunteering with Kelvin Grove. There were also nominee’s from Camelot PreSchool and Brindishe Primary School, but perhaps as proof of how busy educators are, they didn’t have time to meet me.

All the artists were allocated a spot in Lewisham Shopping Centre for their murals. I asked for the pillar wall outside Costa, because I thought the unusual shape might inspire something a little different. I often find I work best when working with strange paramaters, the problem solving sparks interesting design approaches, whereas I can feel a bit overwhelming.

I knew from the start that I wanted to play with the idea of hands. I’ve always seen education as ‘helping hands’ or ‘moulding hands’, taking the essence of people and supporting them into their own personal growth. I think we all remember specific teachers or role models from when we were younger that helped put structure on our lives and shaped our adult selves. I found the background/format trickier, I had some ideas about geometric patterns and designs, but it all seemed too busy. And too many hands reaching up from the bottom looks more desperate than aspiration. Luckily, I had a pint with my friend Kelly, whose also the Chair of Camberwell Arts Festival. She saw what I was missing and suggested making one side of the pillar a black/chalkboard. From there the idea settled itself quite quickly!

The final work is two sides of the pillar, facing the public outside Costa. Both sides are painted in Rust Olem Chalkboard paint. The hands and font were done with white Posca paint markers and varnished over to protect the line work. The hands reaching up are all ‘unfinished’ in their own way, with the hand reaching down arranged in a more formal/traditional style, representing the knowledge and skills educators pass on to those in their care. The educators wears a braclet with three charms repesenting the three schools of the three Lewisham Legend nominees.

But the best (and most important) part is that half of one pillar is a working chalkboard, so the public can continue adding to it, adding temporary or fleeting layers that represent their own stories.

I was delighted to be selected for this commission, and would like to talk Adila Rose, Rhonda Idoniboye and Ursula Goldfinger from Lewisham Culture Team for supporting the project. Shout out too, to my LSOM girls, Barnie and Boudicca Collins who were commissioned to celebrate local volunteers and Lewisham Hero Sybil Phoneix with their own murals.