Meet the Team

Sara Downham-Lotto – Abstract artist, experimenter & connector.

Sara is an abstract artist and peacebuilder. Her participatory practice uses abstraction, experimentation, and dialogue to build relationships and amplify marginalized voices – producing work that is both visually compelling and socially rooted. 

As the Founding Director of Arts Lab and the Rural Peace Hub, she designs and leads programmes and workshops sharing her practices to encourage creative, practical ways to resolve conflict and strengthen communities.

Whether in the studio or working in communities, her practice is shaped by the interconnectedness of making art, teaching, and peacebuilding.

More on Sara here >>

Anthony Downie – Visual artist exploring our connections with history & place.

Anthony is a painter and muralist based in North Shields. His work explores his environment, and our relationship with our surroundings. 

More on Anthony here >>

Chau Hoang – intern in media and communication

Chau is a Vietnamese final-year Media, Communication and Cultural Studies student at Newcastle University, currently doing an internship with Arts Lab. She will be supporting the Lab’s marketing and documentation of workshops, artist residencies, and community events through film, photography, and short-form video. Chau has a strong interest in visual storytelling and socially engaged art, particularly interested in how creative media can capture human connection and amplify participants’ voices. 

Rebecca Innes – Values-led development coach supporting meaningful change in work & life.

Rebecca is an entrepreneurship and start-up consultant at Newcastle University, where she coaches students and graduates to turn early stage ideas into viable ventures, and design workshops that build confidence, clarity and real-world skills. Alongside this, she works independently as a writer and development coach, supporting people at moments of change to reconnect with what matters and make grounded choices. With experience spanning start-ups, scale-ups and creative practice, she brings a reflective, practical approach that bridges values and action.

More on Rebecca here >>

Susanna McGuinness – Researcher in arts education, with background in young people’s participatory arts. 

Suzie is a PhD student based in Newcastle, currently working as an embedded researcher at Hand Of, an arts education charity supporting children and young people across the North East. As a participatory artist she has produced performances with children in

SEND and mainstream schools and delivered creative workshops in communities across Scotland.

More on Suzie here >> 

Nataliia Petryk – Visual artist, performer, group trauma facilitator, & psychologist

Nataliia is a psychotherapist, family consultation practitioner, performer and visual artist from Ukraine. She loves creating both alone and in groups. She finds interaction with others is key, where process is just as important as the final outcome, supporting community healing through shared creativity.

Elana Purkins – Visual artist intern exploring connections with nature through painting, sculpture & film.

Elana is currently in her first year studying Fine Art at Newcastle university, her work mostly taking form in film, painting and sculpture. She takes a lot of inspiration from her ancient surrounding landscape and its timelessness. Growing up rurally in Northumberland engulfed in the seasons, in a way of life entangled with nature, her practice centralises around these experiences.

More on Elana here >>

Emma Sidebotham – Paediatric surgeon working across disciplines to support equity in global health.

Emma is a doctor who spent many years treating patients in the NHS. As a senior surgeon, following patients longer term, she became increasingly aware of the broader factors influencing health. Her interest is to explore how creativity and the arts can improve wellbeing. Emma’s creative practice is personal and limited to modest crafting projects, repurposing items to be useful and maybe beautiful. “The world is so full of resources that we should use more effectively and efficiently to improve people’s wellbeing’, she says.

More on Emma here >>

Jayamini de Silva – Multicultural, community-engaged visual artist exploring sacred feminine iconography.

Jayamini is an artist, educator, and creative practitioner, and the founder of JammiArt Academy, providing art education to children worldwide. Sri Lankan-born, she holds a Fine Arts degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and a Masters in Art Conservation from the University of Northumbria. Working with acrylic, ink on rice paper, and stone colours on silk, her practice explores global cultures, womanhood, and the sacred feminine, and has been exhibited internationally.

More on Jayamini here >>

Ruth Thompson – Neurodivergent maker of meaningful willow & hazel creations.

Ruth is a willow artist based near Prudhoe in Northumberland. Much of her work has a therapeutic slant, mainly with groups, both weaving small individual objects and making large structures /sculptures for community gardens or in schools. She likes using willow weaving to help people have some quiet time, enabling them to feel how they are and be reflective as they weave. Her hope is to do this at the Rural Peace Hub, alongside other artists.

More on Ruth here >>