Supporting the Sector

Acme Studios has taken a leading role, working with others, in developing the affordable artists' studio sector in England.

Established by artists in 1972, Acme Studios has benefited from an extraordinary consistency of management and vision. The co-founders, Jonathan Harvey and David Panton continue to lead the organisation today.

The main challenges facing the affordable artists' studio sector have changed little over the last thirty-seven years. Acme's first brochure, published when The Acme Gallery opened in Covent Garden in 1976, emphasised that: 'Permanent property must be found and acquired...' because of the waste of energy and investment in moving from one temporary building to another. An understanding of the need for studio groups to work together was also clearly expressed: 'There is a case for all groups working in the area of provision of studio space and accommodation to co-operate and to pool resources and information, rather than to continue the fragmentary development being done at the moment'. Thirty years later this ambition was realised, with Acme taking the lead role in establishing the National Federation of Artists' Studio Providers in 2006.

For more information on the role Acme has played in supporting the sector, see 'Further Reading'.