BOTH Gallery support both making practice and exhibiting practice, providing artists with opportunities to develop their work as well as present it to the public.
Over the years, we have supported many artists through exhibitions, mentoring, residencies, and professional development. We offer a prize for Central Saint Martins graduates that includes mentoring, a residency, and a solo exhibition at the gallery. This provides emerging artists with valuable support as they transition into professional practice.
For example, artist Daniel Bernal was offered a residency in the basement for two months, developing the work that was later exhibited in his solo show. We actively encourage artists to use the gallery as a place for experimentation, production, collaboration, and developing and sustaining artist peer networks, not just exhibition.
Community engagement is central to our programme. We have presented participatory exhibitions involving local residents, including projects where visitors contributed words of love directly onto the gallery walls. We also run workshops for the local community and collaborate with local arts organisations, including Highgate Festival and a women-only arts group made up of local artists, architects, and makers. Many of our exhibitions explore themes of collaboration, activism, and social engagement, bringing art into conversations that matter to our community while fostering lasting relationships between artists and audiences.
We are committed to supporting students and emerging practitioners. We have worked with Central Saint Martins, UCL, and other institutions, offering students opportunities to exhibit in the gallery while gaining practical experience of curating, installing exhibitions, and understanding the process of putting on a professional show. We also encourage students to approach us with their own exhibition proposals, giving them experience beyond the academic environment and helping bridge the gap between education and professional practice.
Several members of our team are practising artists, makers, and experimental practitioners who have taught in schools, further education, and higher education. This combination of professional practice and teaching experience enables us to provide meaningful mentoring and guidance to artists at different stages of their careers.
One of the gallery's greatest strengths is its prominent street-facing window on the main road. This allows artworks to engage passers-by and makes contemporary art visible to a wider audience. We encourage makers and artists to take advantage of this visibility, using the gallery not only as an exhibition space but also as a place where artistic practice can be seen, discussed, and experienced by the local community.
Throughout our programme, we aim to create an environment where artists can connect, exchange ideas, collaborate across disciplines, and build long-term professional relationships, developing and sustaining artist peer networks that continue beyond individual exhibitions and projects.
