Our Patron
The Royal Society of Sculptors was first awarded royal patronage in 1911 when it was recognised for its services to the art of sculpture.
The Society has been privileged to enjoy the patronage of the reigning monarch and gratefully acknowledges the continuing support of His Majesty, King Charles III.
Image: Portrait of King Charles III, Buckingham Palace, February 2024. Source: The Royal Household
Our Board
The Royal Society of Sculptors champions sculpture and the artists who create it. We are committed to making the full range of contemporary practice accessible to all and also to promoting high professional and creative standards.
As such, our work is overseen by our Board, which elects the majority of its members from our community of artists. The remaining members are drawn from other professions and contribute expertise across a range of fields.
Chaired by the President, the Board comprises the Vice President, the Treasurer and up to eleven others, all elected for a three-year term.
The Board is responsible for defining the Society’s strategic vision, policy, procedures and programme. The sculptor members of the Board also review applications to the Society and select new members.
The Society is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and has appointed Board member Jane Reeves as EDI champion.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Policy
We have also appointed Bill Price, Director at WSP structural engineers, as our Board champion to lead on sustainability.
President - Laura Ford PRSS
Laura Ford studied at Bath Academy of Art between 1978-82 including a period at the Cooper Union School of Art, New York. Then completed an MA at Chelsea School of art 1982-83.Her work is represented in many public collections including; Tate, The Victoria and Albert Museum, Government Art Collection.
Laura's sculptures are faithful representations of fantasy with sometimes bitter sweet and menacing qualities mixed with tenderness. She uses humour and an acute observation of the human condition to engage with wider social and political issues. Her work is intensely crafted but playful, and she has used a range of media to realise her work including, drawing, painting, performance, set design and has increasingly taken on the challenge of public art alongside museum and gallery shows.
Vice President - Almuth Tebbenhoff VPRSS
Almuth Tebbenhoff was born in Germany in 1949, came to England in 1966 as a student exchange and stayed. She studied ceramics at Sir John Cass School of Art 1972-5, made pots and surreal clay sculpture. In 1981 Almuth set up a studio in Wandsworth and expanded her practice to include metal fabrication. For a while she worked very minimalistic then developed her own style.
Since 1980 Almuth has exhibited, lectured, tutored, experimented, developed and learnt to carve marble which is very grown up. Over four decades she made many sculptures which are in collections worldwide.
Trustees
Andrea Geile FRSS
Andrea Geile trained in print making before studying Visual Art/Sculpture at FH Hanover, Germany. She has been working from her Scottish studio since 1995. Geile was elected Fellow in 2016.
Andrea’s sculptures and performances condense and interpret nature and ecology. Both her permanent and transient artwork investigate how social processes have shaped and utilized landscapes for our political, economic and immaterial needs.
She has participated in many art residencies and has extensive experience in exhibiting nationally and internationally. Her sculptures are in many private and public collections. Among others she has received Awards from the Royal Scottish Academy, Creative Scotland and Visual Art Scotland. Andrea currently has a major solo show at Gerhard Marcks Haus in Germany.
Andrew Stonyer FRSS
Andrew Stonyer studied at Northampton School of Art, Loughborough College of Art, Leicester Polytechnic and the Architectural Association and the Slade. He was the first art student in the UK, to be awarded a practice based PhD in Fine Art/Sculpture. He has taught, exhibited and completed commissions in Canada, Holland, Germany, Turkey, the USA and the UK. Andrew previously served on council at the RSS from 2014/16.
He is a trustee of the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail and Trust, and was chairman, with responsibility for the Re Place programme from 2010/16. He also serves on the Fabric Committees at Gloucester and Worcester Cathedrals.
Andrew lives in Newent on the edge of the Forest of Dean, where he has a large well equipped studio. He describes his sculpture as an exploration of the patterns of imagery found in natural and technological environments as well as the geometry of cubes, golden section prisms and columns. The former frequently involves kinetic sculptures that respond to sunlight, sound and the vibration of trains etc. as well as to time sequences within the hour. With cubes, prisms and columns the key theme is dissonance; where the imposition of asymmetrical geometry, sometime involving actual movement, destabilises their stasis. He works in a variety of materials, corten, bronze, cast iron, aluminium and neon, as well as electronic control systems.
Barbara Beyer MRSS
Barbara Beyer was born in Germany, where she studied Fine Art, History of Art and German Literature, at Johannes Gutenberg University. From 1993 to 1997 she joined the Sculpture Class taught by Prof Ansgar Nierhoff. In 1998 she moved to Edinburgh where she was a member of the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop until 2002 when she moved to London.
Barbara has extensive experience in public engagement and participatory artwork, has taken part in exhibitions nationally and internationally, taken up artist residencies and collaborated on public commissions in Germany, Switzerland, Norway and the UK. She is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors, a studio member of Rochester Square and artist-in-residence at Buckinghamshire New University, where she also teaches in Foundation. In 2021 she was recently shortlisted for the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize.
Bill Price
Bill Price is a director at WSP and worked on the Shard at London Bridge from the earliest stages of design development to completion in 2015. Bill has worked with many artists and sculptors for over 20 years assisting with engineering, safety, transportation and site activities. Bill is currently project director for the Paddington Square development and range of other infrastructure and public realm initiatives. Bill is also a trustee of the Rose Theatre in Kingston, supporting original drama and family shows as well as a wide range of community engagement.
Edwina Sassoon MBE
Edwina Sassoon has had a career in the visual arts, working with museums and galleries. In 1990 she established her own consultancy advising both sides of the arts and business partnership. Amongst other roles, she is currently a Trustee of the Garden Museum.
In 2010, Edwina was awarded the Victoria & Albert Museum Knowledge and Inspiration Medal.
Eugene Macki MRSS
Eugene Macki studied at Chelsea College of Arts, Sheffield Hallam University, and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in the United States. He is the recipient of the Gilbert Bayes Award, the SPACE Studios Artist Award, and the SPACE 12-month free studio. Between 2012 and 2014, he co-founded Void Art Gallery in London, founded Moon Spring in 2019-2022, and the Peut Guard in 2023 (a project that consists of an artist award, research retreat, curatorial program, and exhibition). He has exhibited at the National Liberty Museum (USA); The Salisbury Museum (UK); The Royal Academy of Arts (UK); GroundWork Gallery (UK); Aspex Gallery (UK); 20-21 Visual Arts Centre (UK); and performed at Socrates Sculpture Park (USA) among others.
Gordon Watson
Gordon Watson is a former museum director. As Chief Executive of Lakeland Arts, he led the development of the Trust's portfolio of museums and galleries, particularly exhibitions, collections, learning and community engagement at Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Blackwell the Arts & Crafts House and the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry. He directed the project to create Windermere Jetty Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories, designed by Carmody Groarke architects, and secure over £18 million to complete the new Museum ready for the public opening in spring 2019. He also oversaw the first stages of the Abbot Hall redevelopment project, designed by MUMA.
Previously, Gordon directed the development of The Hepworth Wakefield, designed by Sir David Chipperfield. He took the award-winning gallery from the initial concept and visioning through to completion of construction in 2010. Gordon was manager of Wakefield Council’s museums, arts and heritage services from 1995 to 2004.
Gordon is a Governor at Kendal College and was previously Chair of Governors for a secondary special school in West Yorkshire.
Jane Reeves
Jane has a long career in corporate law and extensive experience in non-executive roles in the third sector, working with the Legal Education Foundation, the Publishers’ Association, the University of Lincoln, the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, the RSPB and the Green Alliance.
As well as bringing a legal perspective to the Board, Jane brings experience from other organisations whose priorities include supporting a sector, meeting members’ needs, widening access and participation, balancing budgets and maintaining glorious but costly listed buildings.
Mark Burch – Treasurer
Mark Burch has near forty years working in financial services as a lending banker, a corporate finance adviser and as an investment manager. He has a MBA from Columbia University New York.
Outside his working career he has been active in finance Trustee roles at the Hackney Empire, the Charleston Trust and ArtsEd where he was also Chair. He is currently Chair of Stage One, the theatre producers training charity, and Chair of Governors at the University of Brighton.
Nick Hornby FRSS
Nick Hornby is a British artist based in London (b.1980). His work explores queer identity, semiotics and art-historical critique. In 2023 he unveiled three public commissions in London; each critically engages with the core tropes of public art - equestrian, memorial and abstraction. He studied at The Slade School of Art and Chelsea College of Art. He has exhibited at Tate Britain, Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge and The Museum of Arts and Design, New York. His work has been reviewed in Frieze, Artforum, The Art Newspaper, The New York Times and in 2022, a substantial monograph was published by Anomie Press.
Rebecca Newnham FRSS
Rebecca Newnham is a sculptor with a special interest in glass. She has work in significant private collections including three sculptural installations floating in different lakes in North Yorkshire. In the public realm her sculpture commissions are integral to building developments.
At the Royal College of Art, Rebecca developed glass as a faceted skin to sculpture which champions characteristics of plants, experience of place, and our understanding of organic systems. Whilst the sculpture considers the physical and scientific, it acknowledges the spiritual and magical side of our lives.
Rebecca also organises art events and is Arts Patron at Talbot Heath School, has the Art Scholarship named after her and mentors their art scholars.
Our Team
Caroline Worthington, Director
Caroline has worked with artists throughout her career as a curator. She brings a wealth of experience gained while leading two independent, non-profit organisations. As Chief Executive of Bexley Heritage Trust for six years, she ran two historic houses and introduced a contemporary art programme, featuring the work of artists including Gavin Turk, Laura Ford, and Joana Vasconcelos among others. Prior to that she was the Director of the Florence Nightingale Museum on London’s South Bank, where she raised funds and oversaw a complete redesign and re-launch in 2010.
Caroline became Vice Chair of the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) in 2020 and a Trustee of Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery Trust in January 2021.
Lorraine Pajak, Awards and Events Manager
Lorraine has a background in commercial galleries, museums and arts membership organisations. Her experience includes managing an art libraries society based at the National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum. Lorraine holds a BA (Hons) in History and Theory of Art and an MA in Arts Policy and Management.
Lorraine is Vice Chair of the Belvedere Community Centre.
Andrea Arnold, Head of Finance
Andrea has a background in financial management across advisory, commercial and non-profit organisations. In addition to her professional qualifications, she has a BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and an MFA Fine Art from Wimbledon College of Art.
Works Monday / Thursday
Maria Marro-Perera, Membership & Communications Manager
Maria has a background in commercial as well as non-profit arts organisations including membership networks. She has an MA in History of Art from UCL and a Post-Graduate Diploma from the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Our Volunteers
The Society is also supported by a fantastic team of volunteers and we welcome applications from anyone wishing to get actively involved with our work.
