Both Richard and Rosemary Wakelin were artists, based in Swansea from the late 1950s and worked in an abstract Modernist style but possessed an appreciation of all forms of the visual arts. They worked through several organisations to further the visual arts, notably the Swansea Art Society, the Association for Artists and Designers in Wales (with whom they founded the Swansea Arts Workshop, now the Mission Gallery), the 74 Guild of Artist Craftsmen, the Welsh Group and the Friends of the Glynn Vivian. They were keen to help and encourage talented artists and crafts-people, especially those struggling for recognition, and to broaden appreciation of the arts in Swansea.