STUDIO SPACE PROVISION FOR ARTISTS

Website: http://nfasp.org.uk (The National Federation of Artists' Studios)

ACAVA

The Association for Cultural Advancement through Visual Art is an arts education charity. In 1976 its first two buildings were Faroe Road Studios, a former school, and Hetley Road Studios, a former vicarage.

The Blechynden Street Studios (1999) were the first purpose-built artists studios to have been constructed in London for several decades.

In 2023 it had fifteen studio buildings in London, as well as others elsewhere. The metropolitan ones tended to be in West London.

Location: 54 Blechynden Street, W10 6RJ

23-29 Faroe Road, W14 0EL

62 Hetley Road, W12 8BB

Website: https://www.acava.org

Acme

Acme is a charity that provides affordable studios to artists.

Acme's roots go back to 1972. In 1976 Jonathan Harvey and David Panton set up The Acme Gallery in a former banana warehouse in Covent Garden. The artists whose work was shown there included Helen Chadwick (1953-1996). The space closed in 1981.

In 2023 the organisation was providing space for over 800 artists on sixteen sites. Many of these were located in Inner East London.

Location: 16 Robinson Road, E2 9LX

ACME Studios, 44 Copperfield Road, E3 4RR

Website: https://acme.org.uk

APT

Art in Perpetuity Trust furnishes studio space for artists in Deptford. The charity was set up in 1995.

Location: Harold Works, 6 Creekside, SE8 4SA

Website: https://www.aptstudios.org

arebyte

arebyte is a charity that furnishes studio space in East London and South-East London.

Website: https://www.arebyte.com

Bow Arts

Bow Arts is a charity that set up in 1994 by the artists Marcel Baettig and Ryan Durrant, with the support of Marc Schimmel, who owned a building in Bow Road.

In 2021 Bow Arts purchased Three Waters, which was able to provide studios for 70 artists.

Location: 181-183 Bow Road, E3 2SJ

Website: https://bowarts.org

Cockpit Arts

Cockpit Arts is a charity that furnishes studio space in Bloomsbury and Deptford.

Location: Cockpityard, Northington Street, WC1N 2NP (purple, grey)

Website: https://cockpitstudios.org

Eat Work Art

Eat Work Art - a subsidiary of Creative Network Partners - was set up in 2009.

In 2023 the organisation was running five buildings in London. These were located in East London and South-East London. Its Hackney Downs Studios was hosting a vegan market.

Website: https://eatworkart.com

Forma

Forma provides studio space across the creative industries, including visual art.

Location: Peveril Garden Studios, 140 Great Dover Street, SE1 4GW

Website: https://forma.org.uk

Gaunson Creative Studios

Gaunson Creative Studios provides workspace for the creative industries.

EuroArt Studios changed its name to Gaunson Creative Studios in 2021.

In 2023 Gaunson was proving almost 200 workspaces across six sites.

Location: Gaunson House, Markfield Road, N15 4QQ

Website: https://gaunsoncreativestudios.co.uk

Hive Curates

Artist Hive Studios changed its name to Hive Curates. The organisation was formed in 2019 by Mark Beatie and Chantelle Purcell. Two years it acquired a second site in Enfield.

Location: 81a Preroria Road North, N18 1SP

Website: https://www.hivecurates.com

Kindred Studios

Kindred Studios is a charity that furnishes artists spaces in Inner West London. The organisation was founded by two ceramicists in 1995

Location: 13 Market Lane, W12 8EZ

18 Saltram Lane, W9 3HR

Website: http://kindredstudios.co.uk

Second Floor Studios

Second Floor Studios & Arts furnishes studios for visual artists, craftspeople, and designers. It was founded in 1998.

In 2023 Second Floor had buildings in Wembley, Deptford, and Kent.

Location: Alloy House, Moulding Lane, SE14 6BN

Website: www.secondfloor.co.uk

Somerset House Studios

In 2023 Somerset House Studios was proving workspaces for dozens of artists.

Location: Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA (orange, purple)

Website: https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/somerset-house-studios

SPACE Studios

In 1967 the painter Peter Sedgley visited a friend who happened to have the last boat to be moored in St Katharine's Docks before they closed. The artists appreciated that the warehouses and building around the docks would be empty. Together with a group of other artists, who included Bridget Riley he set up a charity called Space Provision (Artistic Cultural & Educational). The Greater London Council, which owned the site, leased the organisation two buildings - the I warehouse and The Match Shed - for a token sum. The following year artists moved in.

Bands such as Pink Floyd and Soft Machine used SPACE as rehearsal rooms.

AIR (the Artist Index Registry) sought to furnish information to facilitate communication between artists and art world enterprises. In 1969 it issued its first edition of Catalyst, a directory of artists that had been compiled by Jos Tilson. AIR established a gallery on Shaftesbury Avenue.

By the end of 1971 SPACE had relocated to three separate building that were located in Chalton, London Fields, Shoreditch, and Stepney Green. The following year the Royal Society of Artists furnished SPACE and AIR with office space in the basement of Burlington House. The same year SPACE acquired The Dairy in Kentish Town, which previously had been occupied by Jim Haynes's Arts Lab. Those who came to occupy the building included CATS, a video making enterprise in which John Hoppy Hopkins was involved.

In 1974 Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti took space in SPACE's 10 Martello Street building in London Fields.

In 1975 AIR opened AIR Gallery on Shaftesbury Avenue. There slides of artists work could be viewed

In 1975 SPACE and AIR set up Art Services Grants as an umbrella charity. Charity status meant that the organisations could claim rate relief.

In 1978 SPACE acquired 8 Berry Street. Artists who worked in the building included Paula Rego.

In 1978 AIR Gallery moved to Rosebery Avenue, where it was to remain until 1989.

In 2023 the organisation was providing space for over 800 artists on 21 sites. It operated as a social enterprise constituted as a limited company.

Location: 8 Berry Street, EC1V 0AE (purple, yellow)

129-131 Mare Street, E8 3RH. Current head office.

AIR Gallery, 6 Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 5HP (blue, red)

AIR Gallery, 125-129 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H8EJ

(orange, yellow)

124-130 Tabernacle Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 4SA (orange, turquoise)

Website: https://spacestudios.org.uk

Wimbledon Art Studios

Wimbledon Art Studios furnishes space for visual artists. The non-profit-making organisation was set up in 1992 with just six artists.

In 2023 the Studios was proving space for over 200 artists.

Location: 10 Riverside Yard, SW17 0BB

Website: https://www.wimbledonartstudios.co.uk

David Backhouse 2024