Empowering Women Through Street Art: The WOM Collective’s Penge Rooftop Gallery Exhibition

As the world celebrated International Women’s Day, the WOM Collective were making a statement with their WOM INSPIRED23: Mural Art Exhibition at the Penge Rooftop Gallery in South London. This London-based grassroots collective has been providing a platform for female street artists to showcase their incredible work with the paint jam seeing over 40 artists taking part in the exhibition.


Penge Street Art painted by artist Elno in the Penge Rooftop Gallery

Detail from a larger mural pictured above by artist and WOM Collective founding member ELNO.

Penge Rooftop Gallery 

With the top two floors of the Blenheim Cente multi-story car park rarely used, the building owners, Hadley Property along with Clarion Housing partnered with Penge-based blogger Steve from the London Calling blog. 

They granted him access to the large space with permission to redecorate the blank concrete walls and surfaces with street art and graffiti as he saw fit, and the Penge outdoor rooftop gallery project was launched. 

After taking over the space Steve began inviting street artists and graffiti writers from across London and beyond down to Penge to paint the outdoor roof space and the inside level below. Since the launch of this meanwhile-use project, the walls have been constantly evolving with the rooftop gallery given a refresh every few months with new artists being invited down and given the opportunity to paint. 

Following each refresh of the rooftop space, a number of public viewings days are announced and members of the public are invited to explore this urban art experience in the Blenheim Centre. 

Visitors to the Penge Rooftop Gallery

Visitors on the upper level of the Blenheim Cente multi-story car park in Penge as they explore the work created by the WOM Collective for their WOM INSPIRED 23 event at the Penge Rooftop Gallery.

Curated by the WOM Collective

The groundbreaking WOM INSPIRED23 event at the Penge Rooftop Gallery was curated by WOM founders and artists Lours and Elno, with the support of London Calling Blog and Street Art Atlas.

Active since August 2019 and originally set up as a grassroots collective run by London-based female artists, WOM Collective empowers its artists by providing support and safe networking spaces to help them thrive within the artistic space. Events and paint jams are put on throughout the year to keep the collective growing, connected, and helping each other improve exponentially.

Artist Shauna Blanchfield mural painted in the Penge Rooftop Gallery in London

Artist Shauna Blanchfield paints a mural featuring her mini muse, Farrah.

Female Street Artists Take Over the Penge Rooftop Gallery

For the ‘WOM INSPIRED23’ over 40 new murals were painted over by more than 40 female artists. Some of the artists creating mural work in space included Mishfit, Roo, Tamoonz, HazardOne, Curiouser, Nush, Lours, Vane MG, Pixie, Neonita, Elno, Mowcka, Frankie Strand, Lespleen, Zippy, Layla, Jane Mutiny, 7th Pencil, Vanjimmer, Shauna, Madam, Apparan, Caryn Koh, Elena Howard, Giusi Tomasello, Jeru Kinnaird, Karc, Lore, Mar, Oneslutriot, SoulD_Art, Sugar, Tash, Secle, Vero the neighbour, ywouldudothat, Jola, Cee , Susi Foxy, Charyl and more.

Take a look at some of the unique and vibrant murals I photographed in the photo gallery below from when I visited the space.



Artist SoulD mural painted in the Penge Rooftop Gallery in London

Pictured above is the work of artist SoulD Art which included an interactive element when you scanned the QR code next to the work. Sadly we missed this AR element when we visited the exhibition.



7th Pencil / SoulD and NOt Your Sugar Mummy

London street artist Lours mural painted in the Penge Rooftop Gallery in London

Mural work by artist Lours one of the founding members of the WOM Collective.

Artist Vanjimmer's mural in South London for the Penge Rooftop Gallery

Super fun mural work from artist Vanjimmer features ocelots, crocs, and monkeys sippin’ on margaritas…



A visitor to the rooftop gallery capturing the mural work of artist Vane reflected in the rainwater on the roof of the space.





One of the largest walls at the Penge Rooftop Gallery featured this collaborative mural from artists Nush Poke and Tamoonz.



Spanish artist Mowaka.

Artist Zippy's mural in South London for the Penge Rooftop Gallery

Typographic mural work from Belfast-based artist Zippy titled 'AS TOUGH AS...." inspired by the vast diversity of femininity, identity, and universal resilience of womxn. 

We were introduced to Zippy's work last year in Belfast when she joined some 50 other national and international street artists at Ireland's largest street art festival Hit The North which is set to return later this year.

Artist Madam Mizmatika mural in Penge as part of the WOM INSPIRED at the Penge Rooftop Gallery 
Close-up details above and the full wall below from London-based artist Madam Mizmatika.

Artist Madam Mizmatika mural in Penge as part of the WOM INSPIRED at the Penge Rooftop Gallery

Female artists takeover the Penge Rooftop Outdoor Gallery

Jeru on the left and Tamoonz on the right wall.

Female artist Caryn Koh mural painted at the Penge Rooftop Outdoor Gallery

Female artist Caryn Koh mural painted at the Penge Rooftop Outdoor Gallery

Caryn Koh

Female artist Misfit mural painted at the Penge Rooftop Outdoor Gallery

Artist Misfit

Female artist Vero the Neighbour mural painted at the Penge Rooftop Outdoor Gallery

Vero the Neighbour

Mural by Colombian artist Vane MG for the Penge Street Art Rooftop Gallery

Mural by Vane MG, a multidisciplinary artist and designer from Colombia who is now based in London. For her WOM INSPIRED 23 mural in Penge, Vane MG took inspiration from Hanae, the Japanese artist that sings songs for the Anime series Kamisama Hajimemashita / Kamisama Kiss - one of the artists' favorite anime series.

Mural by Colombin artist Vane MG for the Penge Street Art Rooftop Gallery



Artist Elena Howard tiny polymer clay creatures installed at the Penge Rooftop Gallery

Artist Elena Howard tiny polymer clay creatures can be found dotted around the two floors of the Penge Rooftop Gallery. Cats, dogs, owls, polar bears, and other cute creatures can be found hidden in the gaps of space. 

Newly installed for the WOM INSPIRED 23 is the NHS fox pictured below. The fox sports the blue NHS colour, and a rainbow to represent her gratitude for all the amazing work the NHS teams are doing.

Artist Elena Howard tiny polymer clay NHS Fox character installed at the Penge Rooftop Gallery

NHS Fox character installed by artist Elena Howard.
London based street artist Apparan in Penge, London Mural work on the lower level by artist Apparan.

Artists Roo and Elno collaborative mural in Penge London with the WOM Collective 
 Large-scale collaborative mural by artists Roo and Elno.

Close up of artist Hazard One's mural in the Penge Outdoor Rooftop Gallery in South London

Detail from a larger wall painted by artist Hazard One aka Harriet Wood.

Artist Knapple's mural in Penge London

Small-scale work on the outdoor Penge roof by artist Knapple.

Artist Neonita mural painted for WOM Inspried 23 at the Penge Rooftop Gallery in SOuth London

Neonita mural on the lower level with some of her signature monster characters.

Street artist Nush Poke mural painted in the Penge Rooftop Gallery in London

Artist Nush Poke

London street artist Pixie mural painted in the Penge Rooftop Gallery in London

London-based artist Pixie's Penge mural.

London street artist Roo mural painted in the Penge Rooftop Gallery in London 
 Super cute cat and dog characters painted by artist ROO in Penge, London.


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Penge Outdoor Rooftop Gallery Address

Penge Rooftop Gallery (The Blenheim Centre) 140 High St, London SE20 7EU.

The space is not open to the general public at the moment, to know when upcoming public viewing days will be make sure to head over to London Calling Blog on Instagram for details of upcoming open days.