Biography

Ann Witheridge read history of art at Christ’s College, Cambridge before moving to Italy to study art full-time. In Florence, she was fortunate to receive a scholarship and taught within the atelier tradition. When she returned to London she started the studios on Lavender Hill, now called London Fine Art Studios. For over 25 years, Ann has taught and advised creatives. She writes for art periodicals and teaches workshops in museums in London and abroad. She loves teaching and painting in equal measure.

Ann’s life in art has been defined by her dedication to teaching and arts education. She began her work as a tutor at Charles H. Cecil Studios in 1998. After transitioning her practice to London, Ann co-founded Lavender Hill Studios, a traditional atelier in the heart of the city; in 2015 this became London Fine Art Studios (LFAS), with Ann as its Founder and Director. Alongside her work building LFAS, Ann’s teaching has brought her all across London and the world. She has collaborated extensively with renowned London museums, including the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria & Albert museum, and the Leighton House museum, teaching workshops and facilitating arts dialogue across the city. She has also taught all over the world, from Adis Abbaba, Ethiopia to Charleston, South Carolina. Over the course of her 25-year teaching career and the opening of the atelier, Ann has ensured that her teaching centers the artistic process as equally valuable to the work it produces.

Ann’s painting and drawing practice, as well as her teaching, are complimented by a lifelong dedication to interdisciplinary art. Over the course of her career, Ann has consistently placed her visual arts practice in conversation with other forms of inquiry and making. Whether collaborating with scientists at Kings College’s Welcome Trust Project “Viewing the Invisible” to explore the similarities in the working methods of scientists and artists, or working with poets for the Poets in the City project, Ann seeks interdisciplinary conversations that honour traditional masters while extending our imagination of visual arts. Moreover, her dedication to increasing conversations around art has been underpinned by her enduring collaborative relationships with local and global arts organizations, where she has taught, done demonstrations, sat on panels, and advised on arts boards. This includes her role  as Vice Chair of the Richard Schmid Foundation, based in Chicago. Ann consistently moves beyond her own work as a painter and school Director to extend her teaching and collaborative knowledge to the arts spaces of London and cities and organizations around the world.