SPACE (studios)

SPACE, founded by Bridget Riley and Peter Sedgley in 1968, is the oldest continuously operating artist studio organisation in London. In addition to providing studios to artists across the city, SPACE operates a recognised exhibition programme, international residencies and a community-facing learning and participation platform.

SPACE’s founding in 1968, with temporary studios in St Katharine Docks, initiated an efflorescence of artist studio complexes in East End boroughs over four decades, which included Acme Studios, Chisenhale Studios, Delfina Studios and many others. SPACE has also had studio buildings in Camden, Deptford, Barking, Soho, and Islington. The concentration of artists that these studio complexes brought to the East End laid the groundwork for the area’s cultural profile which led, from the 1990s onwards, to its claim of having the largest concentration of artists in Europe.

SPACE is a registered charity supported by the Arts Council England which runs a variety of education projects and provides studios for over 700 artists at 17 sites across London.

In 1965 Riley and Sedgley had visited a range of artist studios in semi-industrial warehouse buildings in New York, including those of Ellsworth Kelly and Agnes Martin, when the two artists were included in the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition The Responsive Eye. The idea for SPACE emerged from AIR (Artist Information Registry). Co-founder Peter Sedgley was first interested in establishing an agency that would document the work of artists and collate it into a professional ‘registry’ that would be open to anyone interested in the work of contemporary artists.

In 1968, Sedgley and Riley secured a two-year lease on the ‘I-site’ building in St Katharine Docks for the purpose of artists studios at £500 a year after which it was due to be developed. The building was to house SPACE and AIR. SPACE provided affordable studio space to artists in need; and AIR catalogued slides and exhibition information on any artist who wanted to be a part of it and made this available to interested parties—dealers, curators, collectors. Joining SPACE and AIR were a selection of smaller organisations that needed support of space including Pavilions in the Park and the Printmakers Council. Initial funding for the venture was given by the artist Henry Moore, who donated his prize from the Erasmus Foundation, and grants were given by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Arts Council of Great Britain. Riley and Sedgley were joined by Peter Townsend, Professor Tony West and the actress Irene Worth on the management committee.

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Wikipedia