🤖 March highlights at Artspace 🤖

Boobies, Broadmead XP and celebrations for International Women’s Day at our buildings this March.

A row of Xbox arcade games
Xbox arcade games ready to be played with at Playback Arcade in Broadmead XP

A Sad Farewell to Unit 15

a signpost on a wall listing closed artistic projects

A new development on an industrial estate in St Philip’s may see us lose one of Bristol’s key cultural institutions from the city as the Invisible Circus are pushed out of Unit 15.

Broadmead XP

A large room with art on the wall and a large table surrounded by chairs

In 2023 Artspace Lifespace continued on our mission to recycle vacant, under-used and problem properties into thriving creative resources and took on management of a retail unit in The Galleries, Broadmead, called Broadmead XP. Broadmead XP houses the retro gaming emporium Playback Arcade a freeplay arcade run and owned by enthusiastic long-term gamers and friends, Mark […]

Creative Ideas for February Half Term

A woman and child dance under a glitter ball in a park podium

February half term is coming fast. With the unpredictable weather it’s always a daunting week to fill with affordable kids entertainment so here’s some tips for creative days out around Bristol, including good picnic and toilet spots! As a venue who recently held a 90’s crisp buffet night we can’t help but love Zion Space […]

Sparks Bristol lease extended until December 2025

A man stands looking at a gift in a colourful shop

The old Marks & Spencers building in Broadmead saw massive changes in 2023. Now renamed Sparks Bristol, the four-storey department store was taken on by charities Artspace Lifespace and Global Goals Centre. Since opening in May 2023, Sparks Bristol has welcomed over 350,000 visitors. They recently announced that all their hard work has paid off […]

2023 AGM Minutes are now live

Discover the highlights from our 2023 AGM (Annual General Meeting), where we shared the news of our successful Cultural Investment Programme grant, a testament to our commitment to the arts in Bristol. While we celebrate our achievements, we also emphasise the importance of supporting funding for ‘larger’ organizations and how for the first time, Artspace […]

Notice for an Annual General Meeting for Artspace Lifespace CIO

NOTICE OF MEETING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual General Meeting of Artspace Lifespace will be held via zoom at 18:00 on Wednesday the 6th December to transact the following business. AGENDA Introductions and welcome from AGM Chair  Apologies for absence Minutes of the previous AGM To be agreed and matters arising. Presentation of […]

Artspace November 2023 Highlights

Three women in red dresses strike strong poses

We’re giving you Love Bites 🫦, Fire Ceremonies and art from Desert Communities across our venues this month.

Low Impact Events Design and Build

Interior of Sparks department store with a tree-like structure inside

From Santa’s grotto to a secret festival venue we all love a creative ‘pop-up’ event but what happens to the scenery once the lights go down? Due to its temporary nature the events industry is notoriously wasteful. While there’s a lot of work going on to reduce the majority of waste generated by food and […]

October 2023 Newsletter

A wide-eyed, smiling face drips to the side

October brings a Tango festival to Arts Mansion, an exhibition by UWE’s Unconventional Computing Lab and a 💩 load of electronica to The Island Venue.

Alaric Hobbs – Residency Review

artist alaric hobbs standing beneath a gold plastic chair suspended from the ceiling

Artist Alaric Hobbs is interested in how politics affects our built environment and surroundings. Following his residency at The Vestibules, and subsequent exhibition at Centrespace Gallery, Artspace Lifespace caught up with him to chat about his work and the experience of holding a solo exhibition. ASLS: Hi Alaric, your recent exhibition explores themes of hostile […]

Sparks Bristol Launch

A person dressed as a kangaroo jumps with children on a sunny street

Sparks Bristol – Putting the Art back in Department Stores On the 13th May, in partnership with Global Goals Centre, we launched Sparks Bristol, the groundbreaking project that merges art, education, shopping, and sustainability. Revitalising the old Marks and Spencers building in the heart of Broadmead. The grand opening witnessed an incredible turnout of over […]

Rebellion Regeneration Community Exhibition

A young artist sorts through prints in their studio

On the 10th and 11th March 2023 2nd year fine art students from The Bristol School of Art will present their exhibition inspired by the history of The Island. We caught up with contributing artist Jeanette Read to find out more… Q, How did the idea of an exhibition based around The Island building come […]

Sparks Bristol Update

A cargo bike parked inside a large white room

Along with our partner Global Goals Centre we’ve been busy at our new project, Sparks Bristol, getting our heads around all the things that come with taking on a new building such intruder alarms, access keys and codes, plumbing and some urgent repairs. We were delighted that the community champions came to take a look […]

Queering Masculinity review

Queering Masculinity was a week long exhibition with Brook Tate & Daniel DeWolfe at The Island gallery with a series of workshops and performances running alongside. Both Brook and Daniel grew up as Jehovah’s Witnesses and use their work to explore identity and sexuality. Our inclusion officer Caroline Thake was in the audience for the […]

2021 – 2022 Impact Report

Our annual Impact Report is now ready to view. Through a very intense period of time we’ve managed to keep running our three buildings, supporting artists by providing low cost creative spaces, holding residencies, exhibitions and events . The theme of our report is mycelium as they are connective and resilient. The network and foundation […]

Notice for an Annual General Meeting for Artspace Lifespace CIO

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the fourth Annual General Meeting of Artspace Lifespace will be held via zoom at 17:30 on Wednesday the 7th December to transact the following business. AGENDA Introductions and welcome from AGM Chair Anthony Elliot Apologies for absence Minutes of the previous AGM To be agreed and matters arising. Reports and accounts […]

Sparks Bristol

Artspace Lifespace to work with Global Goals Centre to create exciting new art and sustainability hub in Broadmead – Sparks Bristol.

Interview with Island Studio Holder Rachelle Aaronson

We caught up with resident Island artist Rachelle Aaronson who recently held her exhibition ‘Looking Up, Looking Down’ at The Vestibules. The exhibition followed Rachelle’s photographic journey. Starting with `looking up’ to manmade structures that dominate our skylines then ‘looking down’ to the more ephemeral objects, the perspective eventually developing into `involuntary` sculptures. How lucky […]

Haunting Ashton Court: Reclaiming Forgotten Histories.

A man stands on a stage in front of a projection of two historical photographs

Words and Photography by Caroline Thake. What are the stories we tell about ourselves? Who has permission to write them? What does it mean to recover forgotten histories from historically marginalised perspectives? The evening of 29th September brought together Global Majority & Queer writers, artists, filmmakers and performers in a magical evening of poetry, performance […]

Venue at The Island Re-launch

A group of clubbers with their hands in the air enjoying the music at The Venue at The Island.

September sees The Venue nightclub returning to The Island. Following a successful Spring season while we bedded in a new team, found our feet and had to throw away a lot of out of date drinks stock (😫) following a nearly two year Covid closure, we are now formally re-launching. Our Venue Managers Clara McDermott […]

Join our Board of Trustees & New Advisory Team

JOIN OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES & ADVISORY BOARD Artspace Lifespace are recruiting new members for our board. You can find out more about the current board here. Trustee Recruitment The Trustee’s are responsible for the strategic direction of the charity, agreeing plans and budgets, and holding the Company Manager to account for the delivery of […]

The Coe Gallery at The Vestibules, Our Stories, Our Journey

detail of Aboriginal artwork in the dots stylt using yellows and oranges

In July the Vestibules was proud to host The Coe Gallery’s stunning exhibition featuring paintings by Aboriginal artists, focusing on land and the natural world. The Coe gallery is the UK’s first Aboriginal owned and artist led gallery, founded and curated by Jasmine Coe, a Wiradjuri-British artist and daughter of Paul Coe.  Paul Coe is […]

Sponsored spotlights!

We’re delighted to have finally installed spotlights to our Gallery ceiling and are extremely grateful to the generous donation from artist Luke Jerram who kindly funded the work. Luke came along to the recent ‘Fragile’ exhibition by Ben Anthony to view the paintings and see the spotlights in action. Following the restoration work on the […]

The Island – Way Back When

Ever wondered how Artspace Lifespace and The Island started in Bristol? Well now you get to delve further Invisible Circus: No Dress Rehearsal (Feature documentary by Naomi Smyth) was a massive four-year documentary undertaking. It was originally screened at The Brewery Theatre which is sadly now no more, but The Island is still going strong! […]

Job Opportunities at The Island and Arts Mansion

With great sadness, we announce that our wonderful centre manager Jane Hartoch is leaving the Island after 6 years of incarceration in the Old Bridewell Police Station. We are now seeking a new ISLAND CENTRE MANAGER. We are also looking for Duty Managers for The Arts Mansion. Flexible 3-10 hour shifts – £9.90 per hour. […]