Our history

We design and build our free public Nunnery Gallery with a £100k grant from Arts Council England.

The building, an old convent, was derelict. The restoration was done in-house. “We had no heating, we had no proper lighting. There were walls and floors and we cleaned. We loved it.” – Marcel Baettig

Our Nunnery Gallery launches its very first exhibition, immediately securing a reputation for thought-provoking art exhibitions in east London and celebrating the work of artists based in our studios

We establish our unique, first-of-its-kind educational programme, training artist educators to work in schools –  a programme that now annually reaches around 15,000 young people.

We launch Visions in the Nunnery, London’s only international moving image and digital art showcase, selected from an international open call.

We establish London’s largest affordable creative Live Work scheme in partnership with Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association (2007-2018).

We see the launch of ‘London’s Artist Quarter’, a free marketing platform for artists and creative business based in east London.

We develop ‘Artist Studio Finder’, a free London-wide platform for all artists, designers, and makers to find affordable, safe studio spaces.

In 2014, we open our beloved café!

We launch the East London Painting Prize, in partnership with The Legacy List, the charity of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the Goldhill Family and the Zabludowicz Collection.

We establish the East London Group exhibition From Bow to Biennale – the first show to celebrate this little-known-of group of inter-war East End artists.

In response to an artist survey which showed over 90% of practicing artists find it useful to receive further support outside formal education we launch a programme of talks, workshops, panel discussions, new skills labs and peer crits, known as Bow Skills.

We win the tender to manage Royal Albert Wharf and establish it as London’s first creative placemaking project with partner Notting Hill Genesis.

Our management of the Lakeside Centre begins. We invest in its future as a cultural centre fostering enterprise at the heart of Thamesmead, as part of Peabody’s ambitious vision for change, supported by the Mayor’s London Regeneration Fund (LEAP).

We celebrate the start of our Raw Materials project and exhibition series, exploring the industrial heritage of the River Lea one material at a time, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

We establish the Thamesmead Residential Project, our second affordable residential scheme for artists.

We hold the exhibition Doreen Fletcher: A retrospective in the Nunnery Gallery, drawing over 7,000 visitors and gaining national acclaim.

We partner with Notting Hill Genesis on the Hackney Wick Development.

We buy our first property, Three Waters, with 70 new affordable, creative studios. This guarantees security for artists and for us so we can continue to create inspirational environments where artists and communities can interact, learn and grow together.

We introduce the East London Art Prize to further celebrate and promote the incredible talent and diversity of art made in the cultural hive of east London. 

We partner with Camden Council to provide one of the largest affordable studio offers in central London.