Dean Stalham (born c. 1963) is a British self-taught artist, playwright and community activist from

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

. He has spent time in prison for handling stolen artworks. Stalham was born in north London and grew up in

Cricklewood Cricklewood is a town in North London, England, in the London Boroughs of Camden, Barnet, and Brent. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies north-west of Charing Cross. Cricklewood was a small rural hamlet ...

. Mr Stalham's police charge sheet runs to several pages. In 1980, age 17, he was found guilty of stealing a car and fined £100. In 1984 he was arrested for assault; in 1986 for carrying a knife in a public place. Then in 1994, aged 31, he was jailed for two years for conspiring to defraud banks, after police smashed his fake credit card ring which stretched from Rotterdam to Lagos. Whilst serving time in Wandsworth Prison he won a prize for his art from the Koestler Trust. He founded the Art Saves Lives community interest company in 2009, which was dissolved in 2014.

Theatre

In 2010 Stalham wrote a play, ''God Don't Live on a Council Estate'', and staged it in an old council office building in

New Cross New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the London_postal_district#List_of_London_postal_districts, SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, London, St Jo ...

. WhatsonStage.com described it as "an emotionally gripping and riveting production", while theguardian.com called it "different" and "of high quality". His play, ''The Barred'', was performed in at London's

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

in February 2015 and at

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

Fairfield Halls Fairfield Halls is an arts, entertainment and conference centre in Croydon, London, England, which opened in 1962 and contains a theatre and gallery, and a large concert hall regularly used for BBC television, radio and orchestral recordings. F ...

in July 2015.

References

Living people 1960s births Year of birth missing (living people) Artists from London Founders of charities {{UK-artist-stub