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Grab your paint brushes! The art foundation founded by the late fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen has just opened a new affordable art studio in north London. The Sarabande Foundation in Tottenham has 14 new workshops that will be taken over by painters, sculptors, photographers, fashion designers and other creatives.
Taking over a pair of Georgian grade II*-listed townhouses, this new arty enclave will provide support and mentoring to artists via the foundation, while also creating a new public art gallery. The 60-square-metre display space will host exhibitions and talks, alongside a café and a separate gallery, called House of Bandits, that will show work from the residents. Artists can rent the studios from around £1 per square foot.
The building itself has been painstakingly restored while still keeping its ramshackle charm. Studios retain their original features, including historic panelling, fireplaces and floorboards, while the layers of wallpapers and paints applied over the centuries are intentionally preserved.
Five alumni of the foundation have been commissioned to create new artworks for the building. These include hand-carved flagstones for the café’s floor and a new café counter with a surreal umbrella design.
Trino Verkade, director of Sarabande, said: ‘These remarkable new buildings will serve our artists but also the local community. The need for inexpensive artists’ studios is higher than ever. Tottenham is recognised as an economically deprived area but one field where it is flourishing is within the creative industries. Sarabande High Road is a significant cultural hub for Tottenham, and is helping to transform the area as part of its burgeoning art scene.’
The restoration was led by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and funded by a Heritage Enterprise grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Sarabande High Road, 808-810 High Road, Tottenham, N17 0DH.
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