The Brockley Community Gallery Open Day

On Saturday we popped in to the new gallery at the Tea Factory, which was holding an open day, to see how things were shaping up.

Here's what we learned:

• The space is big and light and is now fully operational, if a bit sparse
• The plan is to open in late October
• Already, more than 15 local artists have become members but they are looking for at least 10 more, which was the main purpose of the day
• Artists from outside the Borough are welcome to join up. We bumped in to an artist we know who lives in Greenwich and was weighing-up the opportunity
• One of the things they hope to do with the gallery is organise children's workshops - a great idea given how few things there are for kids locally
• Its neighbours in the development will be a new cafe and the office of the architects who designed the building - which is good news for those of us who believe attracting more jobs and professional companies are vital for the long-term development of the area. The fourth commercial occupant is apparently an estate agent, but given the state of the market, we'd be impressed by any agency opening new offices at this time
• Throughout negotiations, relationships with the Council and the developer remained positive. The Council did eventually provide a small amount of additional public funding, which will help get the gallery going. The developer eventually agreed to do what was needed to make it usable. Everybody's happy
• There was cake as promised, though we arrived very early, while it was still under wraps, so cannot vouch for its quality