Eco Park art featured in Royal Academy

Niall Guite started painting football stadia during lockdown - and now, the Special Olympian has seen his artwork displayed in London's Royal Academy exhibition.

His artwork of Forest Green's new stadium, Eco Park, is now featuring at the exhibition.

The launch of Niall’s website back in November was the culmination of 18 months of hard work and drive by Niall which started out in March 2020.

During the pandemic, Niall came up with the idea to start drawing football stadiums from across the UK to raise funds for Special Olympics GB during the nationwide 2.6 Challenge, which the organisers of the London Marathon launched on what would have been their 40th anniversary.

With an original target of £260, through a combination of Niall’s striking artwork and his brilliant ability to market himself, his drawings and to connect with people on social media, Niall not only smashed that target raising more than £6,000, but his artwork also caught the attention of world-famous artist, Grayson Perry who posted on Twitter that he “loves” Niall’s drawings.

Niall, who is a Special Olympics GB World Games gold medal-winning basketball player turned cyclist from Sheffield said: “I’m so excited to launch my business. It means the world to me. This is a social enterprise business, and I am hoping to show that people with intellectual disabilities can be successful not just in sport but in employment too. It’s a dream come true.”