SFSA: A flourishing riverside arts community

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Modern facilities for artists give new life to old buildings

Rosalind Ormiston explores SFSA and meets the artists

In Greenwich, south east London, along the riverside close to the Thames Barrier a remarkable group of over 160 artists have their studios on the site of a former industrial estate in a mix of old buildings and warehouses now turned into purpose-built studio spaces. It is called ‘Second Floor Studios and Arts’ and is Europe’s largest studio space project.  An ‘Open Studios’ event, held in May and November each year, gives the public an opportunity to visit the studios, meet the artists and buy works directly from the painters, engravers and ceramicists, printers, photographers and furniture makers, bookbinders, glassmakers, metalworkers and jewellery makers, who create the collective group and arts community known as ‘Second Floor Studios and Arts’ (SFSA). 

On the day I visited in November 2011 the weather was blustery with a breeze heading along the Thames waterfront, which frames one side of the SFSA site. Within the studio buildings the atmosphere was relaxed. Here, artists come and go as they please, some with regular days in, others choosing to share a studio and work on alternate days, or weeks. Matthew Wood, director of SFSA, and the artist Sarah Priddis gave me a tour of the de-industrialized buildings that have been refurbished to accommodate this community of artists, who work here in their own chosen fields of arts and crafts. Surprising to the eye, the buildings with modern exteriors are refurbishments of the original structures. The core buildings have been retained beneath the new build. Some of the wharf buildings are over 100 years old with stunning interior features.

Second Floor Studio and Arts has been in existence for 16 years and moved to this site in March, 2009 when Greenwich University School of Architecture acquired their former site. We first toured ‘Trinity Wharf’ building, which houses 47 crafts studios on two floors. On the first floor is a new Arts Cafe, with near-unbeatable views of the Thames from its terrace.

Matthew is pleased with this new facility because, as he explains, ‘members [of the arts group] are coming from all over London, Essex and Kent and want somewhere on site to eat’. He wanted to provide them with a well-equipped cafe and a space to meet up with others in the community. Sarah finds the social space areas – one in each building – really valuable meeting places, ‘There is such a community here and everybody thrives off that; you walk down a corridor and meet five people working on completely different projects, creating a vibe off it’, which Sarah considers is the essence of what makes the SFSA successful and popular.

At present there are studio spaces for 220 artists with plans for a capacity of 300 studios. The SFSA is a not-for-profit project, launched to develop visual and fine art practice, craft and design. Matthew works with the property owners, Emafyl, who have financed the project, to create spaces that will facilitate and motivate peer support and nurture professional relationships within the community, to encourage good relationships and eliminate what can be an isolated experience for some artists working alone.

In the craft-space, where modern studios frame an open courtyard of trees and plants and places to sit, the large windows of each studio reveal glimpses of work in progress, such as Sophie Hussain’s stained glass and Bill Manley’s bookbinding work. At an open door two ceramicists, Jane Cairns and Camillo Esguerra, both recent graduates, were preparing the kiln oven to fire their pottery wares. They share a studio but produce separate works. In a studio across the way, watercolour artist and sculptor Jenny Wiggins was setting up to begin a new artwork. Next door to Jenny’s studio Bruce Watson, a bespoke cabinet maker, was working outside in the sunshine, sanding down a wooden cabinet. His pieces are mainly commissioned and the twice-yearly expos are an opportunity for visitors to see his work.

Around the corner in a brand new 3,000 sq. ft gallery space called ‘No Format’, the artist Rachel Levitas, a graduate of RCA in 1990–3 and winner of the prestigious Lynn Painter-Stainers prize in 2010, was planning the layout of her paintings for the SFSA inaugural exhibition ‘Rachel Levitas – Paintings’. Rachel finds having her studio at SFSA is good for her art practice, with the management team on hand to help her too.  

Matthew underlines his working partnership with all the artists; he is known to everyone and is the first person they contact for advice or help; so too with the owners of the de-industrialized site. He finds that the arrangement works in everyone’s favour, providing affordable studio space to artists and craftspeople at a time when London rents for studios can be prohibitive. In addition, Matthew organizes studio space and facilities for several professional arts bodies. This includes a permanent space used by Ravensbourne College for print studios; a studio award project organized by the University of East London; and the Crafts Council’s ‘Hothouse’ award for emerging makers (those defined as being within two years of setting up a practice), through which Matthew offers 50% subsidy on studio space in year-one occupancy. 

In a separate building filled with light from the skies over the Thames waterfront, Carolyn Nicoll, manager of the print workshop, was overseeing the production of an artist’s screen print. The high quality of the print equipment attracts artists and recent graduates, who clearly appreciate the workspace offered here. Matthew points out that London lacks sufficient printmaking facilities. Here, the studio currently has around 100 members who have open-access to the facilities.

The area that the print studios cover is deceptive. It is one of London’s largest open-access fine art and printmaking studios with over 5,000 sq ft for the production of fine art, textile and screen-printing, digital printing, letterpress, intaglio, etching, relief, and plate lithography. The wide variety of work makes each day at the studio a unique experience for the team, who work to produce their own work and aid new graduates. The latter will use the studios on an ad hoc basis. In addition, at the print studio, Carolyn runs a series of introductory courses (Thames Barrier Print Studio), in etching, screen-printing, photo-etching, letterpress printmaking plus specialist courses for experienced printmakers.

At Second Floor Studios and Arts the feeling is one of individuals working together to create a successful venture with a collective aim: to promote SFSA to a wider audience, to develop the production of new craft and design, fine and visual art practice. On visiting the studios and meeting the arts and crafts people here, apart from the high standard of the studio facilities, it was the wide variety of creativity that most impressed.

The illustration studio of Rod Hunt, noted for his ‘retro-tinged’ illustrations and character-filled landscapes is close to a separate building allocated to painters. Here I found the artist Sarah Priddis with her fine collection of paintings that would be on display and on sale in her small, light-filled studio, in the ‘Open Studios’ event. Sarah enjoys the few days that the whole site is open to the public, with a chance to chat to people who want to ‘meet the artist’, discuss her work, and learn more about artist’s techniques, and practice. Sarah finds that many of those who visit for the first time continue to follow the artists based at SFSA, seeking out their works at exhibitions and in galleries. The next three-day ‘Open Studios’ event is scheduled for May, 2012, with such a fantastic opportunity to experience working studios and meet a wonderful group of people.