Our Team

Mariann Kehrling

Manager

Mariann has been our manager since January 2019. She is originally from Hungary, where she studied business and economics before working in marketing and communications. Amongst her achievements, she was the co-founder and manager of a successful international kindergarten in Budapest.

Mariann is a keen amateur artist and she finds working in such a creative environment as Artventure very rewarding. She sees key elements of her role as creating an inviting and nurturing atmosphere for our participants and raising the profile of disability art, by ensuring that the artworks they produce are seen by the local community.

Steve James

Deputy Manager

Steve has been an artworker at Artventure since the early days and he’s enjoyed working with our clients for more than 20 years now. He is responsible for the operational aspects of the running of our studio.

Steve has a close and special relationship with all of our clients and he is one of the reasons they all like to come to our sessions. He caters for most of their practical needs and always has a joke for them. He is also always ready to contribute creative ideas.

Lyanne Margadant

Art Worker

Lyanne has been involved with Artventure on and off for 27 years, and has enjoyed seeing it change and evolve. She has a broad understanding of a range of artistic techniques and an in-depth knowledge of materials and what they can do. For her, the best part of working with Artventure is helping participants reach their creative potential and seeing the pride they take in finished artworks.

Lyanne particularly enjoys the fun atmosphere in the studio and the feeling that, starting with a few basic materials, anything is possible. She also has a lot of experience in organising and staging exhibitions.

Mary Ambrose

Art Worker

Mary joined Artventure as a volunteer after moving to Guildford in 2009 and two years later, she became a part-time artworker. Her background is in IT in local government, but since leaving this stage of her career, she has devoted her time to developing her artistic skills through attending classes at Putney School of Art. She really enjoys offering visual arts opportunities to the participants in such a creative environment and having a lot of fun together in what feels like a family environment. She also gets satisfaction from supporting the local community and she enjoys meeting and working with staff, volunteers and visiting students and artists.

Neil Hayward

Art Worker

Neil started volunteering at Artventure in 2017 and has never forgotten just how welcoming and friendly the atmosphere felt the moment he walked through the door.

He studied Fine Art (BA Hons), before going on to complete a PGCE in Secondary Art and Design. Much of his degree work was involved using found materials both inside and outside of the studio walls.

Since graduating, Neil has focused on developing Digital Photography skills, with a particular interest in synthetizing photography and other visual art forms.

He particularly believes in the importance of ensuring that clients gain just as much enjoyment and feeling of self-achievement through exploring their creative ideas as through executing the final artworks.

Honey Dearsley

Art Worker

Honey is a freelance artist with broad experience in art education. She has an honours degree in Graphics & Illustration and has trained as a primary teacher and art specialist. Honey works regularly with galleries devising content and facilitating workshops in the wider community.

Always curious and keen to learn and try new things, Honey loves working at Artventure where we make art, relax and enjoy time together. She passionately believes that art is for all and she is always astounded at the talent and enthusiasm of the artists who attend.

You may know her on Twitter as @DearsleyArtHive or on Instagram as thehive.art.