Experience a Grace Farms Lecture by artist, scholar and advocate Dr. Hannah Rose Thomas with a performance by a chamber ensemble of the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Dr. Hannah Rose Thomas has established a portrait painting practice, harnessing art as a tool for advocacy. Her work has received critical acclaim, with exhibitions in prestigious places, including Buckingham Palace, the UK Houses of Parliament and the Saatchi Gallery. Through her portfolio of portrait paintings, she seeks to elevate the voices of the marginalized and prescribe dignity to the persecuted and forcibly displaced. To do so, Thomas incorporates early Renaissance and iconography painting techniques into her work.

Central to Thomas’s practice is an understanding of portraiture as an act of gifting – an offering of attention, dignity, and presence that honors the irreducible humanity of each individual. Her work also reflects a deep ethic of hospitality, creating space for encounter, listening, and relational exchange between artist, subject, and viewer.

The concert continues this dialogue through music, with a chamber ensemble of the London Philharmonic Orchestra performing a program responding both to Thomas’s work.