Free programmes designed by ND creatives for ND creatives
Our Story
Founded in 2015, Mainspring Arts is a neurodivergent and artist-led organisation that co-creates supportive, welcoming neurodivergent spaces and communities that empower, uplift and nurture through creativity.
Working across art forms, we connect with neurodivergent creatives in person and online to best support them and develop their practice.
This enables us to co-create platforms where our community can access the free resources and support they need to make and share work, and opportunities to meet and collaborate. All our programmes have access at their core and are designed by and for neurodivergent creatives.
Meet the Team!
Miranda Prag
Director and co-founder
Miranda co-founded Mainspring in 2015, and has run it ever since. Outside of Mainspring, she is an artist, performer and boat dweller. She mostly makes solo performance (the more rolling around on the floor the better), and has been lucky enough to tour her work nationally and internationally. She also works as a facilitator and access support worker. She loves climbing up hills, being in water, making things out of wood and coming up with outlandish schemes.
Lisa Gee
Trustee
Lisa currently works 2.5 days a week as Assistant Professor in Creative Writing and Digital Media at the University of Birmingham. She spends the rest of her time doing too many things including writing, editing, keeping to-do lists and crocheting badly. She has one daughter (a significant upgrade), and lives in Harlesden north-west London with her partner and two ageing cats. She achieved her ADHD diagnosis in 2022, and her autism in 2023. She was last mistaken for a small boy in autumn 2022.
Stella Barnes (she/her)
Peer Network Project Lead
Stella is based in West Yorkshire and works in the North West, London and nationally. She is most inspired when she’s working with people to make new things happen and bring new stories to life. She has had a long and varied career, working mostly in arts and social justice contexts. Her work has included directing arts projects, leading an organisation, facilitating workshops, teaching applied theatre in universities and evaluating projects. She has been exploring ethical value-led arts practice for a long time and she still has more questions than answers, which is probably a good thing.
Joanne Limburg
Chair of Trustees
Joanne Limburg is an autistic writer and Creative Writing lecturer. Her books include Letters to my Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism and the poetry collection The Autistic Alice. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been involved with Mainspring Arts since she taught its first group of writers in 2017.
Eleanor Hughes
Trustee
Eleanor works across the health and justice sector as a Speech and Language Therapist, identifying and supporting the communication differences of neurodivergent children and young people. She is passionate about removing barriers within society and enabling access, through a combination of workforce training, active-allyship and promoting the self-advocacy skills of others. Eleanor identifies as multiply neurodivergent. For her this means the way she thinks, processes and interacts is influenced by a combination of different conditions and traits. She has been diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADHD, and is interested in creativity as a means of empowering self-expression and communication.
Sam Dunstan
Fundraising Lead
As an ADHD and hearing-impaired professional, Sam is driven to support and celebrate neurodivergent artists, which is why he's so excited to be working with Mainspring. He has a personable approach to working with others that fosters an environment of collaboration, creativity and innovation. Outside of Mainspring, he is Co-Founder of The Growth House - a socially-conscious theatre company making interactive theatre for and with working-class audiences. He also works as a University Lecturer, Facilitator and Access Support Worker. Outside of the arts, Sam is a lover of video-games, big walks and his dog, Foster.
Karis Okereke
Trustee
Karis has a background in fundraising, partnerships and research in the arts and nonprofit sectors and has worked for museums, startups and charitable organisations. Having previously fundraised for projects that support learning disabled people to express themselves creatively, this inspired Karis to join Mainspring Arts as a Trustee.
Simi Davies
Design and Digital Content Manager
Simi has a background in photography, curation, graphic design and art direction. From empowering decolonial education in the mental health sector to climate justice, she uses her diverse skill set to advocate for causes she’s passionate about. Despite struggling throughout her entire education, she was diagnosed with dyslexia (with the potential for more) with just 2 A level exams left and has had many negative diagnosis experiences since. This is why she is motivated to educate people on neurodivergence and empower adults on the spectrum, especially those who have been failed by the system, that self diagnosis is valid and support is out there.
Katya Balen
Co-founder
Katya co-founded Mainspring in 2015, and was a co-director alongside Miranda until 2022. She is a children's author and freelance editor.
