Centrespace

Centrespace began in 1977, when a small group of artists and craftspeople pooled resources to rent the top floor of 6 Leonard Lane as low-cost workspace. The cooperative bought the building at auction in 1993 for 95,000 pounds and now runs the whole structure as thirty studios above a ground-floor gallery, all still member-run. Exhibitions change weekly, hired out to artists who curate and hang their own shows and sit in the gallery to talk to visitors, a deliberate throwback to the do-it-yourself ethos the group started with. The space accepts work from established names and recent graduates alike, with an emphasis on giving new talent a first public show. Down an alley off Corn Street, the gallery has no steps at ground level and wheelchair access throughout.