Sprout Arts
Area: Furzedown
Type: Organisation
Art form: Art, Ceramics, Craft, Design, Digital, Drawing, Film, Illustration, Installation, Jewellery, Painting, Photography, Poetry, Print, Sculpture, Street Art, Textiles, Writer
Biography / Artist statement
Sprout Arts is a not-for-profit community arts venue in Furzedown, South West London run and managed entirely by local volunteers. Our ethos is sharing. Our aim is to build a diverse and inclusive creative community in Furzedown and the surrounding ato encourage the development of a broad spectrum of creative abilities and provide a forum for local artists, designers and makers to exhibit their work, share their skills and engage with the community by running activities and workshops, building partnerships with community groups and schools to broaden creative opportunities for all ages and from all walks of life. Furzedown has a strong community network including many creative artists, designers and makers and residents keen to support local small businesses. We host professional art exhibitions fortnightly throughout the year, offer workshops and a great meeting place for local creative or community groups. Our art space is available for private functions, such as school holiday clubs, private views and Art & Craft events. We have regular meet-ups for groups such as the Writers' group, Poetry group, Knitting and Textile groups. Community Events - Our community events include the popular Secret Postcard Exhibition, in which everyone - from established artists to school children, gets the chance to create art on postcards which are then exhibited and sold. We continually add to our community opportunities. In 2021 we will host an open exhibition to show artwork created within the Covid-19 pandemic, a chance for professional artists and anyone in our community to participate and show their work. Sprout is also part of The Wandsworth Artists’ Open House and a Wandsworth Arts Fringe venue, members are invited to borrow artwork though our Art Loan project, in January we offer an Artist in Residence programme and we curate a fantastic Christmas Market transforming our art space to sell seasonal gifts, home accessories, jewellery and craft-work. Art Loan - 3 times per year, we offer Sprout Arts members th opportunity to borrow a piece of art work for up to 4 months. These pieces of artwork are generously donated by our member artists and give member the opportunity to try something new without committing to longterm ownership. This is a great time to borrow a new medium or different scale piece of artwork to see how well it works in your home with minimum risk. We are completely self-funded so our rent and running costs are dependent on fundraising activities, exhibition commission, membership and donations.