Art studios to open in Wembley Park

Press release from Second Floor Studio and Arts

Second Floor Studios & Arts (SFSA) was established in 1997. It is a leading arts organisation providing affordable studio space for visual and fine artists' and craft and designer makers. 

Our core aim is providing best quality studios and facilities at monthly rental prices our members can afford and whom would otherwise struggle to find comparable studio workspace on the open commercial market.

 

SFSA will take over and run 6,500sq ft of collective affordable studio space – the first of its kind in Wembley Park. The deal has been delivered through a partnership with Quintain, the developers behind the Wembley Park regeneration, and supported by Brent Council, who are providing grant funding for the fit-out of the studios through the GLA’s New Homes Bonus funding programme. It will see 26 new high quality studios offered, providing long term affordable employment space for artists', makers and designers. SFSA will use one studio as an office initially and the first studios will be rented out and occupied from November 2017.

Wembley Park is fast becoming a hub for creativity and culture and last month announced Boxpark Wembley will be adding to this offer in 2018 with 29 independent food and beverage units and a 2,000 capacity events space.  Already home to two of the world’s best known venues for music, entertainment and sport, Wembley Park is now keen to focus on developing a wider cultural presence across the 85 acre site and becoming a cultural hot spot in London.

This deal marks the first venture for SFSA in North West London and aims to tackle the shortage of space available to the arts community at affordable rates, in well managed facilities and marks a major investment in the arts for Brent and the capital. 

As well as providing affordable studios Second Floor will also be delivering a range of educational and outreach programmes, including workshops and exhibitions, providing long-term partnerships and opportunities for the local community. This includes the time bank system where in exchange for the lower rents artists are being charged, they set aside one hour a month of their time which is then given to the community. More details on this will be announced early next year when further studios are released across Wembley Park with the aim to house over 100 practitioners on site in affordable studio workspace.

The new studios will be located on the ground floor of some of the new homes being built in Wembley Park which is seeing the fastest housing delivery of any site in the UK. There will be 3,000 homes under construction by the end of this year and in total planning permission has already been secured for 7,000 homes, of which a third will be affordable.  

Applications for the studio space have now opened and local residents, artists, makers and designers are being encouraged to submit their application to SFSA for the chance to become part of the growing community at Wembley Park.

https://www.secondfloor.co.uk/studios/wembley-park.aspx