Sir John Soane’s Museum Names Lacey Law and Kanto Ohara Maeda as 2026 Jerwood Artists in Residence

Key Takeaways

• Lacey Law focuses on tattoo-inspired woodblock prints and handcraft
• Kanto Ohara Maeda blends architecture, animation, and experimental drawing
• Residency runs three months each in Soane’s historic Drawing Office
• Jerwood Foundation funds the program, reinforcing UK arts support

Pulse Analysis

The Sir John Soane’s Museum, nestled in London’s Lincoln’s Inn Fields, houses one of the nation’s most distinctive architectural interiors: the Drawing Office, installed in 1823 and still intact. As the earliest surviving working architectural office in Britain, it offers an unparalleled environment where light, proportion, and historic artefacts converge. By opening this space to contemporary creators through the Jerwood Artists in Residence programme, the museum bridges two centuries of design thinking, turning a preservation project into a living laboratory for artistic experimentation.

The 2026 cohort brings together Norwich‑based Lacey Law, whose intricate tattoo‑inspired woodblock prints explore the human impulse to adorn body and home, and London‑based Kanto Ohara Maeda, an architect‑trained animator who uses drawing, film and installation to interrogate memory and space. Each will occupy the Drawing Office for three months—Law in the autumn, Maeda in the summer—producing work that dialogues directly with Soane’s collections. Their contrasting yet complementary practices underscore the residency’s focus on drawing as a conceptual and material catalyst.

Funded by the Jerwood Foundation’s three‑year commitment, the residency reinforces the foundation’s strategic aim to nurture excellence across the UK arts sector. By situating emerging talent within a heritage venue, the programme amplifies the museum’s public profile and demonstrates how historic institutions can remain culturally vital. For the artists, the experience offers rare access to a space that has inspired generations of architects and designers, potentially shaping future projects that fuse historic reference with contemporary visual language.