Creative Mentoring

A New York University certified coach Les is credentialed by International Coaching Federation (ICF). He is a GoldAward Mentor at University of London working with artists and design-entrepreneurs. He works with visual and multidisciplinary artists, performers, curators and museum and gallery professionals working in drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, video, film, photography, new media, site-specific practice, performance art, socially-engaged practices, artistic research, folk, and traditional art. A university educator since 1999, Les also supports artists pursing parallel academic pathways as educators and researchers. At College Arts Association (CAA) conferences he chairs meetings on Artistic Research.

Represented by Thomas Jaeckel Gallery in New York, Les has exhibited since 1981 in the US, Europe and Asia including the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia, The Inside Out Art Museum in Beijing, Norimatsu Museum, Japan, The Barbican, London, Milch Gallery, Bergstuebl Projekte Berlin, London, CBGB, New York and the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture in South Korea.

He has curated exhibitions since 1997 in Tokyo, London and New Delhi and served on the curatorial team that created the Inaugural Taipei Biennial, “Sites of Desire.” He is a senior editor for ProjectAnywhere, a journal on site-specific art at University of Melbourne, Australia. He is founder of the Inclusive Biennial which will exhibit in New Delhi.

Les received his BA Honours Fine Art from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Master of Arts in Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London, Masters in Fine Art from Musashino Art University, Japan, PhD from the School of Contemporary Art and Graphic Design, Faculty of Art, Environment and Technology, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK; and Post-Doctorate in Fine Art from the School of Art and Communications at University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Les is Professor of Record for Modern and Contemporary Art History at Renmin University in Beijing and visiting professor of art at Visva Bharati University in India. he has taught on the Cultural Entrepreneurship Masters Program at Peking University in China. In 2020, he was selected by the Presidentially-appointed J. Fulbright commission for the Fulbright Professional and Academic Excellence Award and in 2022 was posted as Senior Scholar in Art and Performance at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi, India. Also a Columbia University Research Scholar, he examines the Futures of Creativity in Multinational Organizations.

Les grew up in the foothills of the Las Padres National forest in Santa Barbara, California and, whenever he has the opportunity, loves to hike in the mountains. He is a Fellow of the Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society. He has lived in London, Brussel, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Beijing, Sao Paulo, and New Delhi.

Executive and LeadershipLab Coach, Columbia Business School, New York

Serving MBAs and EMBAs shaping the futures of entrepreneurship, technology, healthcare, finance, consulting and diplomacy.

GoldAward™Mentor, University of London

Les is a GoldAward™Mentor at Goldsmiths, University of London. Working with clients to build well-rounded portfolio of skills, experiences and knowledge to complement your academic achievements is essential in the competitive working world. Increasing client self-awareness, catalogue key strengths and areas for improvement, build a recognition-portfolio for all activities that impact careers.

Naga Youth Mentorship Program, India

Les founded the Naga Youth Mentoring Program to expand coaching and mentoring to young people from the thirteen tribal communities in Nagaland to develop skills and pathways in leadership, career development, entrepreneurship and balanced mental and physical health.

Entrepreneurship Mentor, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York

At Parsons School of Design he works with entrepreneurs to develop their projects from drawing board to boardroom.

Career Mentor, American University of Paris, France

At American University in Paris he mentors Graduate students to build their international careers.

New York Foundation for the Arts Doctors Hours

Supporting artists, performers, curators in their careers, goals and strategies.