Florence Trust Summer Show

The Florence Trust offered twelve-month studio residencies commencing in August for up to a dozen carefully selected artists. During the residency each artist had 24-hour access to a studio within the Trust&rsquos Grade-1 listed neo-gothic church in Highbury. The resident artists at the Florence Trust formed a supportive community and a valuable network during their time there.

On top of the availability of studio space and a supportive network, the artists benefitted from a professional development scheme. The Florence Trust aimed to help its resident artists establish themselves in the London art scene and progress their practice. Throughout the year the residency provided a mentoring programme tailored to the requirements and objectives of each resident. This included one-to-one sessions with the Director Curator members of the board of Trustees, as well as visiting artists, writers, and curators. The residency holded peer critique sessions during the year and workshops on relevant topics and organised regular gallery tours at which gallery directors and curators gave introductions to their spaces and an insight into their worlds. The Trust helped its residents build a valuable network of contacts as well as providing a supportive environment for making work.

All artists were included in the Florence Trust’s two annual exhibitions, an open studio event with an accompanying curated exhibition of small works in January and a final curated Summer Exhibition in July, with an accompanying full-colour catalogue profiling each artist’s practice.