The Future of The Ladywell Playtower

Four potential bidders for the Ladywell Playtower - including two cinema chains, a cultural consortium and Goldsmiths - have been shortlisted by Lewisham Council, who have launched a public consultation about the future of the iconic building.

The Grade II-listed Playtower has lain dormant for years, but now four exciting concepts have been identified, including:

Goldsmiths

"Goldsmiths propose to locate the University’s established and internationally renowned post‐graduate Art courses solely at the redeveloped Playtower site, in a dedicated and purpose‐built centre for the growing Masters programme on offer.

"Primarily this would see the sensitive restoration of the main pool hall, and the reinstatement of the part‐demolished rear pool over two storeys, to provide three large flexible studio spaces. This model would replicate the under graduate facilities currently provided from the similarly constructed Grade II listed Laurie Grove Baths at the Goldsmiths main campus in New Cross."

Guildmore and Curzon

"Our vision is to reimagine the Ladywell Playtower as a publicly accessible leisure destination for the Borough of Lewisham.

"In response to strong local demand and drawing upon the original concept for the building which saw the First Class Pool Hall seasonally decked over for use as an entertainment venue, we propose to reopen the Playtower as a three screen cinema, complete with freely accessible public events foyer and complementary café, bar and restaurant uses."

Picturehouse

"Our proposal seeks to enhance and preserve it by finding a new use which will enable it to play an active part in the community for many years to come. We propose to refurbish the main building and to use the theatrical pool hall space for one large cinema screen - the remainder of the existing building will provide ancillary spaces with a cafe, bar, event room, exhibition space and community rooms. To the rear of the site on the footprint of the demolished second pool hall - we will construct a further four cinema screens in a new extension.

"Alongside this will be a thorough landscaping proposal for the whole site including a new route
which will link Ladywell Fields with Ladywell Road, placing the Playtower at the heart of what could become a new cultural quarter for Ladywell."

RJK/Copeland Park and Hillman

"Our vision for the Playtower is to create an exciting and dynamic cultural quarter for Ladywell, while transforming a building that was originally designed to separate people by class into a thriving site that brings people together and encourages them to interact and create.

"We see the Playtower housing a rich mix of performances, events, artist/maker studios, cafes, creative business offices, art galleries, a communal garden-courtyard, restaurants, health and well-being studios, a small cinema and community organizations. The jewel in the crown will be transforming the incredible former first-class pool area into a dynamic performance and event space.

"This space could become one of the most unique and intriguing performance venues in London and we will work with our partners at the Albany Theatre in Deptford to programme a range of commercial and community performances by everyone from leading arts organizations to local people.

"We are proposing to build, subject to planning permission, three new buildings on the site, all sensitively designed to fit in with the Playtower and other surrounding heritage buildings. This new ‘family’ of buildings will include a block of twenty rentable flats, a modest building with four rentable live/work units and ‘The Pavilion’ - a commercial building we will rent out to multiple tenants in the same way as the Playtower."

For a site that has been so neglected for so long, it is exciting to see such ambitious visions being presented by organisations with the means to realise them. You have until August 17th to complete the questionnaire.

Full disclosure, I am a member of the Goldsmiths body that approved this exploratory work on their part.

Silver Road gallery and cafe, Lewisham

This one came out of nowhere! Silver Road is an extraordinary new experimental music and performance venue in a converted water tank, at Number 1 Silver Road, Lewisham (near the Renaissance swimming pool). The team says:

"We are open as a café in the day time and offer vegetarian food, cakes, and amazing coffee! We've also just had our 1st concert with Rie Nakajima & Pierre Berthet and will be announcing more performances soon."

Photo courtesy of Neil Gadhok

"On November 10th, we will be hosting Resonance 104.4fm for an event called Radionics Radio. Composer Daniel Wilson will be joined by film-maker Toby Clarkson to present a live audio-visual diffusion of thought-frequencies."

For more information about Silver Road, click here.

Art in the Attic, October 16

This Sunday, the Brockley Art House (12 Montague Avenue) will open for a special event to celebrate the work of two South East London artists:

Alyson Hunter - photopolymer gravure printmaking of Bohemian Soho haunts
Caroline Wright - mixed media gestural abstracts based on old textiles from the V&A Collection

The Art House team says:

The Art in the Attic event is a pop-up gallery with intriguing zoned areas, where you can enjoy looking at art within this unusual building, relax, take your time, stand back and enjoy purchasing artwork that you feel comfortable with at prices that suit you.

For details, click here.

The Lizards Within Us, Enclave Gallery

David Icke's line of defence was clear. When he said lizards, he really was referring to lizards. He was not talking about cockroaches, or amphibians in general, contrary to the suggestions mooted at the meeting in Vancouver, but Annunaki lizards, specifically, from the lower fourth dimension.
- Jon Ronson, Secret Rulers of the World

The fourFOLD collective is staging its last event at Deptford gallery Enclave (50 Resolution Way, Deptford SE8 4AL). They write:

The Lizards Within Us is a multi-sensory installation in which Phoebe Boswell uses film, drawing, sound, and interactive sculpture to examine how storytelling, nuance, and language aid our personal predilections towards belief.

Exhibition times are Thursday to Saturdays 12-6pm, until 27th November. There's a talk next Saturday 21st 4-6pm, plus a late night opening on the Friday 27th from 6-9pm.

New art gallery and studios opening in September

 The long-awaited new gallery at the Seager Distillery (9 Brookmill Road) is finally taking shape.

The Deptford development has been through many incarnations and the gallery was demoted from a location at the front of the building to a side street entrance, but it is now confirmed to open in September, incorporating seven artist studios and serving as a permanent home for the Deptford X arts festival.

The Deptford X team explains:

The gallery and project space will open on 25th September 2015 for the launch of the 18th annual Deptford X festival of contemporary arts. 

The gallery’s inaugural exhibition ‘Deptford Conversations’ will bring together work by an exciting group of contemporary artists in Deptford, South East London. Janette Parris, Lead Artist for Deptford X 2015, has invited a selection of local, British and international contemporary artists to create and showcase work that they feel is relevant to Deptford and its residents, as well as to the many thousands of additional visitors who come to the area each Autumn to attend Deptford X: London’s Contemporary Art Festival. 

The site will also house Brookmill Studios, with seven purpose-built workspaces for artists. The studios are available to rent from July 2015 at a monthly rental of £110 - £300 per month. Artists interested in viewing Brookmill Studios are invited to attend viewings at 10-11am or 6- 7pm on Friday 10th July.

Totes for Women!

Life coaching for women at Number 57 on Loampit Hill. They say:

Wednesday 4th March 7-9pm at Number 57 booking at www.57arts.co.uk £5 to secure place refundable on the evening.

Join professional coach, Hazel Addley to create your own positive change through designing meaningful and inspiring goals for 2015 and beyond. Women juggle so much in daily life, and when faced with change outside of our control this is compounded.

This puts pressure on our time, energy and resources so that simply managing the priorities each day can become all consuming. If you are ready to step up and take more control of the direction your life takes then this taster workshop is for you. You will take time out with other like-minded women to clarify what you want for the coming year and beyond.

YBAs donate to Goldsmiths gallery fundraiser

Goldsmiths has revealed the list of its alumni who have donated artworks for its gallery fundraising auction. Blouin Artinfo reports:

The works, by the likes of Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Julian Opie, Sam Taylor-Johnson, and Steve McQueen, will be auctioned during Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on February 12, 2015 in London. 

The money raised from the donated works, which include Damien Hirst’s “Ipratropium Bromide” (estimate: £250,000 - £350,000), Sarah Lucas’ “Nahuiolin” (estimate: £120,000 - £180,000), and Antony Gormley’s “Another Time XX” (estimate: £120,000 - £180,000), will go towards the £2.8 million needed to build the Gallery, all of which will be funded by external donations.

For details of the gallery plan, click here.

The Lewisham Way Christmas Market, December 6th

The team at Lewisham Way art gallery Number 57 write:

Our Xmas Market opens tomorrow and is open Sat & Sun 10-6pm. There will be crafts and more on offer including:

- Floral Wreaths created by Lewisham &amp
- Southwark College Floristry which can be ordered and collected from Number 57
- An advent calendar countdown window display for the small people ....and big people of course

The Number 57 Art Fair

Window 135

day 5…mesh & unplayable instrument pic.twitter.com/i7j1jDQMO4
— window135 (@tmjc135) July 31, 2014

Window135 is an art installation that sits on a most unprepossessing stretch of New Cross Road (Number 135, just down the road from The Five Bells). Each week for the last decade, the window has been updated with a new work.

Behind the window lies an artistic Batcave, home to two artists, who explain their motivation here:

"It started tentatively as a method of putting ‘distance’ between the New Cross Rd and the family living room. Formerly a shop our house was one of the two greengrocers made redundant when Sainsbury’s opened a vast supermarket nearby in the 1990’s.

"In 1996 the shop had no shopfront, the grocers had served market style with a mahogany table pulled out onto the pavement. The new ‘shopfront’ was designed to meet local conservation area rules, to look like a shop although its derelict interior meant it could no longer function as one; it reverted to “residential purposes only”.

"The New Cross Road is the arterial route from London to Kent. The volume of passing traffic is disruptive to live with but presents a continuous and diverse audience. The council agreed to “de minimus”; a shallow space to a maximum depth of 1 metre and ‘by appointment only’."

Follow Window135 on Twitter here.

I wish I knew how to quilt you

Lance Armstrong: Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn't have anything to regret for the rest of their life. But good luck to you Peter. I'm sure this decision won't haunt you forever.
- Dodgeball

Mary writes: Number 57 is looking for quilters who are interested in showing work at a show here on 5/6/7th September. There's no submission fee - the show is intended to promote the craft of quilting and gather interest so the more diverse the work on show, the better. Also if you have a heritage quilt or quilt that tells a story and willing to show it, that would be great.

If unsure just call for a chat or email. info@57arts.co.uk / 07599 988004

Goldsmiths gallery design chosen

Design website Dezeen has lots of new images of the winning design for Goldsmiths' planned new art gallery. The winning architecture practice, Assemble, was chosen from a shortlist of six by a panel of judges including Antony Gormley and David Chipperfield.

The project will convert the old tanks at the Laurie Grove bathhouse into display space. The gallery is a key element of the University's emerging masterplan, which will transform its campus and the wider New Cross landscape.

A substantial part of the funding for the project, which was announced in 2011, will come from the auction of works of art by Goldsmiths alumni. The gallery is slated for completion in 2016. Thanks to Anna Dent for the link.

Artist networking at Number 57

Mag-Net-Working is an event for visual artists in South East and East London, taking place at Number 57 Loampit Hill on July 17th, 6.30pm-9pm. The organisers say:

Number 57 gallery will transform into a social hub for artists to meet, discuss their current practice, and develop new ideas for collaboration. During the evening, there will be presentations from artists including Mariya Ustymenko, Madaleine Trigg, Cara Flynn, Katarzyna Perlak, Ipek Koprulu, Sarah-Mace Dennis and Gemma Riggs.

To book your free place, click here.

Lounge Lovers

A recent dinner at Lounge

Amanda writes:

This is the penultimate week of our pop-up cafe Lounge @ The Arthouse. We haven't taken our foot of the pedal just yet:

Today, July 3rd, from 7pm onwards, we have Taste of Tapas a pop-up dining experience for as little as £22 For info and bookings please click here.

Friday 4th of July brings Independents Day, a rare opportunity to see a selection for films from the London Film Makers Co-op, curated by David Leister 7pm onwards.

Saturday 5th July is Kidatopia: Mystery film and quiz for kids 2-4pm

To find out more about this and next week's events programme visit our website.

Misty Moon leaves the Ladywell Tavern

Misty Moon, the team behind the gallery at The Ladywell Tavern, have announced that they are moving on. On the Ladywell forum, founder Stuart writes:

It is with regret that Misty Moon Exhibitions & Events and The Misty Moon Gallery announce that we have parted company with the Ladywell Tavern. With effect from 22nd June 2014, we will no longer be occupying our space behind the pub, and are off to new walls, screens & pastures. 

We will continue to host Bloody Brilliant art shows and extraordinary films and events, with our new Central London friends, FlatPlanet, 39 Great Marlborough Street, W1F 7JG and at a new South East London gallery which will be announced later this week. 

If you aren’t already on our mailing list, please sign up using stuart@mistymoon.net to be kept up to date with when and where we are hanging our hat, pictures & projector.

For the full statement and details of their upcoming events, click here.

Socket & See, Harts Lane Studios

‘SOCKET & SEE’ A Concept Installation by Clive Burton, 20 June 2014, 6-8 pm

For this site specific installation in Harts Lane Studios (New Cross), Clive Burton takes the original, now defunct, many times painted over, electrical plug socket, found on the far right hand side wall of the Studios, to create a mould for multiple casts to be embedded in the remaining walls of the space.

Click here for the full details.

cueB becomes the Buddha Bar

'One As All' by John Duckworth

cueB gallery (aka the back of the Brockley Mess cafe) is hosting an exhibition of the work of US artist John Duckworth (May 2 - June 1). ‘This is the Tunes and Whispered’ will feature seven large format paintings that 'explore a dialogue between Eastern Buddhism and Western consumerism.'

During the opening on May 2nd at 7:00 pm, the artist will perform as part of the video installation AWAKE in conjunction with the exhibition. Details of upcoming events at cueB here.

Lewisham Art House Open Day 2014

Goldsmiths to transform St James Hatcham church as next wave of New Cross redevelopment begins

For a while, we've been alluding to the fact that Goldsmiths would be stepping up its plans to invest in its campus, which occupies much of central New Cross.

The redevelopment programme is not only a priority for Goldsmiths, but for local residents, who want the empty high street properties brought back into use. BC is on the Council of Goldsmiths and we're really excited by what's coming, which will add a lot more to the area than just new retail units.

Following the recent opening of a new music studio on New Cross Road, Goldsmiths says:

Goldsmiths, University of London has unveiled a number of building projects which will transform their single-campus site in the heart of New Cross.

The announcement comes as contractors begin work on the first of these developments – interior re-design of St James Hatcham, a 19th century church building bought by the College in 2011.

An impression of the new interior of St James Hatcham church

The development will see the building transform into a space that can be used flexibly for teaching, exhibitions, performances and studios.

The Hatcham project forms just one part of a wider vision set out in the College’s updated Masterplan – of a flexible, sustainable campus with visibility of key activities and function set within an identifiable and coherent public realm. The plan has been drawn up by architects McAslan and the Estates team in consultation with staff, students and the wider College community. It is in the final stages of development as the College continues conversations with Lewisham Council on the overall scheme.

A number of key projects have already begun, including:

o   Renewal of the flagship Richard Hoggart Building on Lewisham Way, including a new bright and welcoming entrance and the opening up and landscaping of the forecourt to provide social seating and performance space

o   New Music studios at 286 New Cross Road which provide a creative space for research, performance and recording where musicians, both Goldsmiths students and members of the public, can make professional-level recordings using state-of-the-art equipment.‌

o   The installation of a new café in the Rutherford Building which houses the library and computer laboratories.

The College has significantly increased its investment in the estate in recent years – spending £5m last year, almost four times more than previous years. This investment is set to continue with the following plans in the pipeline:

o   The creation of a new art gallery on campus, using the water tanks in the former Laurie Grove baths. The College will be launching a design competition next week.

o   Continuing our strategy of disposing of outlying properties to enable us to concentrate on our on-campus developments and to review our accommodation strategy with a view to accommodating more on campus in the longer term.

o   Repairs to the front elevation of the Deptford Town Hall Building, following recent repair works to the rear of the building, and continuation of the works to the nearby shops to make them safe

o   Facilitating a variety of ‘pop-up’ projects in the shops on New Cross Roads, following the success of the recent New Cross Records pop-up shop.

Cityscapes at the Sunday Art Salon

David from the Hilly Fields Sunday (sometimes Secret) Art Salon writes:

Come and see the newly refurbished Sunday Art Salon at our first ever Private View on Friday 28th February 6.30pm - 9pm for our first show of 2014, CITYSCAPES: Anthony Johnson and Martin Fidler.
Show continues on Sundays 2nd March- 23rd March 1pm - 5pm.

Some of you are familiar with Martin Fidler's work as he exhibited at the Salon's inagural show in December 2012. Now he is showing a series of powerful charcoal interpretations and ink drawings of London's familiar  landmark architecture.

Anthony Johnson is primarily a landscape painter who works in oils, watercolours and other water-based media, with a solid emphasis on drawing from life to provide his starting point. These large scale works are ambitious and experimental in technique utilising mixed media illustrating various cities around the world.