Lois O'Hara Adds to Art Trail at Wembley Park

April 20, 2022

Lois O’Hara’s large mural covers the ground just in front of Wembley Stadium.
The mural is one of eight works by female artists in “Figures of Change,” an art trail that will remain through June.
Lois’s work encourages movement and connection through bright colors and fluid, overlapping shapes.

Just in time to catch the last, high-stakes games of the English soccer—sorry, football season, an art trail of installations by female artists from around the world guides the way to the iconic football stadium at Wembley Park. The installation, called “Figures of Change,” started on International Women’s Day and will remain through the end of June.

Brighton-based designer Lois O’Hara is one of the artists whose work features on the art trail. Her mural “Think Independently, Together” explodes colorfully on the road leading to the stadium. Although the mural is one of Lois’s biggest projects yet at 23 meters square, tennis courts, basketball courts, and other sporting surfaces are well within her wheelhouse.

“I really think my work suits sports venues, as it’s based in the idea of encouraging people to move, whether that’s physically, or in terms of their imagination, or emotionally,” Lois says. The bright mural, almost game-like in vibrant swirls and pockets of color, reflects Lois’ idea that color breathes life into action.

Young local apprentices from LSE’s Apprentices in City Design program helped Lois ideate and create the mural. The concept “Think Independently, Together” came from the apprentices’ hope to evoke a sense of ownership as well as inclusivity for young people. Recognizable elements among the abstracted swirls and flowers like the borough’s literal outline creates that personal attachment in the shared space.

Curated by Zoë Allen of Artistic Statements and assembled by an all-woman team, Lois’s mural is just one of the eight installations of “Figures of Change” that hope to see Wembley become an increasingly important cultural hub for Northwest London—beyond the stadium.