Lianne La Havas Portrait Raises Thousands for Choir
Artist auctions off painting
Tom Croft, the artist behind Portraits for NHS heroes, has teamed up with singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas, a former student of this school, to help raise funds for our choir.
Tom, who received a British Empire Medal for services to the Arts and to Charity during the Covid-19 Response, is a classically trained painter based in Oxford. His body of work includes portraits of Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Libby Lane, the first female Church of England bishop; Jacqui Smith, former Home Secretary; Will Gompertz, BBC Arts editor; Colin Greenwood of Radiohead; and David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney, all formerly of Manchester United.
Recording artist and music producer Lianne La Havas has achieved great things since her school days with all three of her albums either winning or being nominated for top prizes.
After Lianne agreed to sit for a portrait, Tom managed to raise an incredible £12,000 for the school's choir by auctioning off his artwork, which is signed by the singer.
Tom wrote about his plan to sell the painting on Instagram:
"I'm auctioning off my oil portrait of Lianne La Havas to raise money for Norbury High School choir in Croydon so their very talented kids can perform live on tour! Lianne La Havas is a former pupil and sung in the choir before going on to sing at Glastonbury, sing with Prince and produce beautiful music for us. Grammy award nominated Lianne came to my studio for a sitting and LIANNE WILL SIGN THE PAINTING TOO!!! 😁🤘
All funds will go directly and specifically to the school choir getting live experiences and vocal coaching and you will be making a direct difference to kids feeling like the arts could be a career for them.
You can bid in the comments below or if you want to bid anonymously please DM your bid.
You are bidding for my original oil painting 50cm x 50cm on wooden panel, signed by me and Lianne and you will also get an additional warm glow inside you because you've helped fund the arts where it matters. 🙏😁🤘
Auction starts NOW and will close on April 12th at 12pm.
I will update the winning bid in my stories and at the top of the comments section.
Thanks SO much for making a difference 🙏😊💚"
Ms Emma Stevens, Music Teacher at Norbury High and Lianne's vocal coach to this day, said "Lianne has been so generous with us over the years, donating her time and effort to help our students and offer them incredible opportunities. We are hugely indebted to both her and Tom for everything they have done for us."