SPACE

SPACE was founded in 1968 by artists Bridget Riley, Peter Sedgley and Peter Townsend.They recognised the dire need of professional visual artists for affordable studios in London and were inspired by a visit to artists spaces in New York. While visiting the old docks on the South Bank of the Thames they swiftly realised that the wasteland of empty warehouses might offer a solution to the problem.

In 1968 the Port of London Authority was selling the old dock buildings to the Greater London Council (GLC) and Riley, accompanied by Professor West of the University of Reading's Faculty of Urban and Regional Studies, visited the leader of the GLC, Desmond Plummer. He advised them to form a company and return with their proposal: that the empty buildings be used as studios until their future was decided. When representatives of this new company (SPACE) returned he granted a three-year lease on "I" Block and the Match Shed warehouse in St. Katharine’s dock for £500 a year.

Grants from Henry Moore, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Arts Council and Henry Moore's donation of his Erasmus prize provided the materials to partition the building into studios. The work was carried out by SPACE and students from Chelsea, Slade and Byam Shaw art schools. As the word spread, the original dozen or so artists grew to 100, with applications from Holland, Germany, Greece, America and Africa and almost overnight, the organisation developed a waiting list of 200.

The bold experiment to convert St. Katharine's Dock is now seen as a pivotal point in contemporary British art and urban development; this model was swiftly copied and adapted, inspiring ACME in London, PS1 in New York and WASPS in Glasgow.

SPACE vacated St. Katharine's Dock in 1970 when the building was redeveloped and leased Martello Street Studios in London Fields, Hackney, and Stepney Green (where the offices moved) as a replacement. Martello Street was the first of over 70 diverse buildings (varying in size from 1,000 sq. ft. to 40,000 sq. ft) that SPACE has leased from both private and statutory sector landlords. Since 1968 some of the most notable premises have been the Old Dairy at Prince of Wales Crescent and Somers Town Freight Depot.

While SPACE sought to provide the least expensive studio accommodation through these buildings, AIR (Information Registry of Art) sought to collect artists' information, find new patrons, generate new audiences and ways to engage that audience in the visual arts. AIR was started by Peter Sedgley who believed that artists needed a more direct way for their work to reach the dealers and collectors without having to go through an intermediary gallery. AIR, located first in St. Katharine’s Dock, was non-selective and any artist could submit biographical details and slides of their work. The public, galleries, exhibition organisers or potential buyers were invited to consult the registry to find work and artists that might interest them. In 1969 AIR helped organise 9 exhibitions, including two in Germany and one in Tokyo. By 1972 twice that number were organised and the number grew throughout the 70s. From 1970-1975 AIR was kept and curated in the basement of the Royal Academy. It initiated two publications - "Catalyst" 1967-69 and "AIRMAIL" in the 70s - both artists’listings and information magazines.

Arts Services Grants Ltd (ASG) was awarded charitable status in 1974, acting as an umbrella to AIR and SPACE. In 1975 SPACE established the first "Open Studio" an event unique at the time. Open Studios have enabled thousands of artists to flourish, selling their work directly to the public without need of a gallery or agent. In the same year, the AIR Gallery opened in Shaftesbury Avenue. The building, which also housed AIR and SPACE was originally taken for SPACE as studios but the chance of a central London, ground floor showing area proved irresistible. Alistair McAlpine provided the materials, the GLC financed the conversion, the initial running costs were supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation and the AIR Gallery was born.

History 1978-1988

From mid 1970 to mid 1980 the Arts Council provided studio conversion grants and during these years SPACE frequently obtained preferential agreements from landlords. These arrangements reflected the basic condition of the property, the temporary accommodation offered and the property market of the time. Many landlords were supportive of SPACE and happy to have the properties occupied to avoid further deterioration.

However, the temporary nature of these arrangements had a disruptive effect on the artists' work and the organisation committed itself to finding more permanent solutions. More full-time staff were employed and longer leases were sought, to protect the security of artists, their studios and the services provided. During this period SPACE took on Britannia Works, Belsham Street and Richmond House, all of which remain SPACE studios and greatly expanded the number of studios to artists.

In the meantime the lease on Shaftesbury Avenue expired in 1978 and the AIR Gallery was homeless until 1979 when premises were obtained in Rosebery Avenue where SPACE and the AIR Gallery remained until 1986. AIR and SPACE became a focal point for new British and international art under the directorships of Fergus Muir, Iwona Blazwick and Sara Selwood. Exhibitors included Alison Wilding, Tony Bevan, Ian McKeever, David Nash, Michael Kenny, emerging graduates and Langlands and Bell's "White November". International exhibitions ranged from a group selection of contemporary Polish artists to Palestinian Mona Hatoum's installation "Refugee Camp". These exhibitions were complemented by talks, workshops and education events and a famed multi discipline live arts programme including Station House Opera to Michael Nyman.

During this period Matt's Gallery was founded in 1979 by Robin Klassnik, one of the original SPACE artists and located in Martello Street where it remained until 1990. Matt's included shows by Michael Porter and Richard Wilson who showed his original "20:50" in 1987 before it was bought as a permanent exhibit by the Saatchi Gallery. AIR gave birth to a series of national registers such as those held at the Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Women Artists Slide Library.

To generate new income to support these initiatives and meet the new challenges of the 80s SPACE began, in 1983, to establish (and enlist the help of) the Friends of Air and SPACE. Their subscriptions and fundraising events raised considerable income and profile. Events included Art Fairs where work, donated by SPACE artists, Hockney, Caulfield, Rego and others, was auctioned on behalf of SPACE, and Critics Choice - where leading critics selected work from new artists for exhibition.

However, in 1984 Arts Council support for the AIR Gallery was withdrawn when the Council handed over funding to the Greater London Arts Association (GLAA) and despite much effort and considerable support from individuals the Gallery closed in 1986, although events continued to be hosted in other venues. The lease on Rosebery Avenue ended in 1989 and from 1986 GLAA continued to fund SPACE studios as have its successor bodies - the London Arts Board and Arts Council England – London.

"Many artists in London have at one time or another rented a studio from SPACE. When I moved into a studio the artists already working in SPACE sounded like a roll call of British artists. Names such as Martin Naylor, Nigel Hall, Alison Wilding, Paul Neagu, Janet Natham, Bruce Lacey, Tony Bevan, Albert Irvin, Ian McKeever, James Faure-Walker, Jules de Goede, Brian Catling, John Loker, Julia Peyton-Jones, David Ward and many others."  Michael Kenny RA

History 1988-1998

Following the loss of the AIR Gallery SPACE, during the 90s, increasingly acted as a development agency forming a valuable link between commercial companies, public bodies and a wide range of artists, arts organisations and cultural groups. In 1995 with funds from the Elephant and Monument Trusts SPACE carried out a range of education projects. In 1996 SPACE a grant from the Esmee Fairbairn Trust and private sector sponsorship enabled SPACE to offer Studio Awards to graduate and mature artists, providing a free studio for a year and help with an exhibition.

In 1997 SPACE commissioned a Feasibility Study into the future needs of artists and the future role of SPACE and in 1998 SPACE held its 30th anniversary celebrations at Martello Street studios as part of the Whitechapel Open which was attended by over a thousand people including many like Peter Townsend, Letty Mooring and Tony Patterson who had all worked for SPACE over the previous 30 years.

SPACE held a UK Studio Providers Conference in November 1999 supported by the London Arts Board, European Regional Development Funding, and IBM who gave the free use of their conference facilities on London's South Bank. Over 100 delegates attended representing all corners of the UK from Glasgow to Belfast. Delegates expressed concern at the increasing number of artists being pushed out of areas by developers, creating a chronic shortage of studio space. The Conference called on the Arts Council and other Funding bodies to recognise the valuable role studios play and provide loans or grant finance to support studio developments.

"The good health of so much of English art owes a debt to the efforts of SPACE studios."  Sir Anthony Caro 1993

History 1998-2008

Since 1999 SPACE has grown exponentially. In 1999 SPACE developed the new Bridget Riley Studios in Bow and took on additional floors across the road in Britannia Works, one of its long-standing studio sites. In 2001 it took on Deborah House, which provides 3 floors of studios in central Hackney. Sara Lane Court in Hoxton was an innovative regeneration project started in 2002, converting a disused car park below council flats into two storeys of workshops specifically for designer makers, supporting the area’s traditions of fine woodwork and textiles. SPACE also benefits by leasing properties from the London Borough of Hackney at Eastway, Morning Lane and Stoke Newington Library.  A further source of properties in recent years has been the Peabody Trust, who lease us Success House in Old Kent Road and Baron’s Place (until February 2006). As SPACE studio buildings are all held on leasehold, they are increasingly under threat in a buoyant property market, as once hard to let properties have become desirable for loft conversions. The forthcoming Olympic Games in 2012, on a site neighbouring some of our studios, presents a new context and opportunity for studios in East London.

SPACE has constantly developed new strategies to support artists’ changing needs, which today include an increasingly digital and international art scene. In addition to core studio provision, SPACE today provides a wide range of support services for visual artists, art-related creative enterprises and communities local to SPACE buildings. These extensive programmes include Media Arts, Exhibitions at the Triangle, community-based Collaborations, Artists’ Professional Development and international residencies. The completion of refurbishment of the Triangle building on Mare Street in May 2006 has given a substantial base for these activities in a vibrant networking centre for artists and local communities to meet and exchange.