One year ago I gave notice to leave APT. I never expected to look back at my time through a mask. Everything has changed. I have changed. This exhibition is important because it allows me to consider my time in Deptford and muse over APT’s work and my involvement in it all.

I have many treasured memories of the place. Sturdy, and for the most part reliable - the studios, gallery and yard are a treasure to be held in trust. Although I can’t claim to know the place as well as some I feel in-tune and safe there. Indeed the ghost I’ve witnessed (twice!) was no threat. The place has a gentle quietness which, to paraphrase the mission statement, really does reward creative thought and artistic vision. I often think that my reward was to be by water, amongst friends.

For 18 years APT became my life and my family’s life. Everything became entangled. Boundaries disappeared. Our three children, Joe, Harriet and Millie, worked for the charity many times over the years (“No! Sorry, I can’t write a job reference for you!”) and Fred has done more than anyone will know in supporting and helping me during this time (“Thanks so much Fred x”).

On my first day, 22 May 2002, I was (gently) thrown in at the deep end by attending a Trustees’ and Management committee meeting. The familiar faces of my interview panel greeted me along with the welcome surprise of seeing Clyde Hopkins (14 years previously, Fred and I owned a house with him and Marilyn) and I was as surprised as he was to be seated at the same meeting!

In 2002 the charity was finding its feet; I was its first member of staff and a massive capital project had just finished. My first exhibition to oversee in the newly finished gallery was the inaugural show ‘Ten Days in Deptford’, curated by Roxy Walsh and Leila Galloway. A group show of APT artist-members, it was a perfect introduction for me to get to know everyone. Between 2000 and 2002, the front of the building (affectionately known as the ‘lean-to’) was given a high steel façade, housing four new studios and the front gallery with its large glass entrance. Designed by Jamie Campbell of Campbell Jackson Architects, the confident steel structure exhibited Deptford’s industrial heritage and although not universally liked at the beginning, this frontage is now much loved. In those early years, Andrew Carmichael (fundamental in setting APT up and securing numerous start-up grants) would visit regularly to show local, national and international groups around the gallery and yard, and tell our story.

It is a good story and worth re-telling:

A group of artists from Greenwich Artists Studio Association, GASA, found Harold Wharf in 1995 after a two-year London-wide search. They set up APT as a registered charity and company limited by guarantee and arranged to lease the building from the owner. Astutely (well done Andrew, David, Jacqui, Paul, Richard and Steve), there was an ‘option to buy’ clause which was exercised in 1999. It could so easily have never happened. The price tag was £300,000 and the bank would only lend £200,000. But the owner, John Dennis, lent APT £100,000 to buy his own building. I met John a few times; a kind quiet soul with a twinkle in his eye. He was such a generous supporter of APT and without his trust and commitment APT would not be where it is today. By 2009 APT was free of debt. The mortgage was paid off, John’s loan was settled and APT was able to look to the future.

Things were about to change and what would become a 10-year refurbishment project got underway. It started with what could have been a disaster but which actually turned out for the best. In 2009 APT had to take down the crane that had stood in the yard of Harold Wharf for many years. The steel legs had corroded to such an extent that the structure was at risk of being unsafe (storms and high winds did cause me a few sleepless nights). The 30mm thick steel supports had corroded to 10mm in places and I kept a section cut out by Heather Burrell on my desk as a daily reminder. Leibherr Cranes dismantled it for us.

The removal of the crane, the refurbishment of the original goods lift and the subsequent replacement of most of the studio windows gave the building a much-needed face lift. The following year the foundations were laid for a purpose-built, accessible studio building on the site of an old ‘welding shed’. It had been five years since Steve Lewis and I commissioned Jamie Campbell to design the new studio.

It’s easy to see why the project took ten years to complete. Designing and constructing a building situated within five metres of Deptford Creek and the Docklands Light Railway was never going to be straightforward. But with the support of APT Trustees, Steve, Jamie and I persevered, planning permission was eventually granted, and the build was finally finished in 2014. The APT team of trustees, staff, artists, architects and contractors pushed the project forward making slow but sustainable progress. The result is a studio building with six beautiful, fully-accessible studios which are the envy of all who visit.

Looking back, the Graduate Studio Programme (started in 2014) and the Ryder Projects Space (started in 2017) have had such a positive impact on studio selection. Bringing graduates to the studios is vital as they bring new challenges, different ways of seeing, youthful ideas and fresh attitudes. They keep us all on our toes and makes APT a better place.

Running the gallery and meeting exhibitors has been a highlight for me. To be honest, you can’t really go wrong with putting up a show in the gallery - its scale, light and physicality makes a wonderfully flexible exhibition space - so my role in working with curators and artists was (relatively) simple. I loved the challenge of supporting a complicated install: triple video projections, ceiling high steel structures, charcoal lines, 5m high slatted mirrors, gallons of water contained in practically nothing, a real car set up to play a violin, a clay hot water bottle hut, steps to the ceiling, trails of purple paint and random trip wires! Installations were always great fun and so rewarding. I think I have said “yes” to every idea except for the proposal to drill into the floor. That was an adamant “no”!

One of the most fulfilling parts of my job has been working with young people. It was a was a joy and a privilege to set up and run the Creekside Summer College for five years (2004 to 2008) with Laban, Creekside Education Trust, Cockpit Arts and Trinity College of Music. Over five years 300 young people participated in classes in dance, sculpture, photography, website design, costume design, jewellery and environmental studies. Quite a few APT artist-members taught on the various courses and some wonderful sculptures, photographs and costumes were produced by the young people at our studios. During this time, workshops, talks and events with local primary and secondary schools became a firm fixture in the gallery programme. APT and I built strong partnerships with Lewisham Arts Service, Deptford X, Halstow Primary School, Lewisham Education Arts Network, Creative Lewisham and Goldsmiths University of London, to name but a few. A personal highlight and moment of pride was an invitation to participate at the Women of the World festival (WOW) and also to become mentor for the International Day of the Girl, both at London’s Southbank Centre under the direction of Jude Kelly.

My work with Deptford X (I was a trustee for nearly ten years) has constantly overlapped with my work at APT. I have thoroughly enjoyed supporting the festival and collaborating on many projects. I first met Reuben Thurnhill in 2003 when APT Gallery hosted the Deptford X exhibition ‘Sight Mapping’. As recently as last year five APT artists exhibited their show ‘Mama, Papa is Wounded!’ in the courtyard of our Welding Shed Studios. The festival is a constant positive force for Deptford. Through the work of Matthew Couper, Caroline Underwood and Patrick Henry in the past and now under the current direction of Nathalie Boobis, it continues to set a high bar in showing artwork in the public domain and working with emerging artists.

In 2007 and 2008, I ran a training programme with Jane Hendrie from LEAN (Lewisham Education Arts Network). Jane and I had both noticed that some of the artists that we wanted to work with did not have the skills needed to be an educator. We realised that they needed training and guidance to enable them to get into schools and run workshops. The two courses we ran together were very successful and there are plans within APT’s current education programme to run similar courses in the future. Giving artists the skills to work in schools and deliver successful programmes is vitally important to expanding the visual arts experience of all school children.

I will carry with me some strong and significant memories of my time at APT: the joy of Open Studios and APT Live, the August Collectives, the APT Fellowship, educating young people, building creative networks, collaborating on visual art projects and, most significantly for me, running the Creekside OPEN since 2005. There is no doubt that the competition has put APT on the map. So many of the artists selected have gone on to have outstanding careers and the generosity from all the Selectors (I really can’t thank them enough) has helped elevate the competition to a key date in the visual arts calendar.

Ultimately, APT is as much about the people as it is about the art: those who practice there, those who give their time to the charity and those who actually work there. I think of APT as a family - and like any family not everyone sees eye-to-eye all the time. But we make up, all driven by a common bond: our

total commitment to the place. We mourn those we have lost (sadly Keir, Geoff, John and Clyde in my time) and welcome new arrivals. Across my 18 years I have worked with 19 trustees and 74 artist-members. It would be impossible to pick out anyone for special attention, but thank you all for your support and friendship. I look back fondly to my assistants. Jian Wei Lim was the first Office & Gallery Assistant, a role that he developed admirably before he moved to Somerset House. He was followed by Alex Firth who had a natural aptitude with exhibitions and artists that he took to the Victoria and Albert Museum (Alex often returns to help out at Open Studios!). APT’s current assistant, Alice Thompson, has valiantly supported the transition of management from me to my replacement Sarah Walsh. Student work placements have been important to me, and I am proud to have worked with many, many students and have subsequently written many, many references. So, in a vague chronological order, thank you to Tom, George, Sara, Jethro, Kirsty, Harriet, Chloe, Millie, Lulu, Charlotte, Maisie, Louis, Joe, Hugh, Nicola, Jane, Eleanor, Clara, Rosie, Marta and Elektra, and all the invigilators and bar staff who have helped me out over the years. And last, but definitely not least, Patrick Semple who has worked for APT on and off for many years. I doubt I could have done my job without him.

My own work, as a jeweller, has been positively influenced by artists I have met and worked with, leading me to look more closely at mark-making, texture and colour. Since graduating, I have always had a bench at home, but it was an invitation by Chris Sowe to participate in Dulwich Artists’ Open House in 2013 that refocused my practice. Placement and shape is my starting point. I make one-off pieces in silver and gold and work into the surface of the metal to impart pattern, patina and character. First impressions are then forged and once polished, the work gains a much older, timeless feel.

I have included some of my most recent work in this exhibition.
This is the first time I have shown at APT Gallery.
Another milestone.

Liz May 5 November 2020

The full exhibition can be seen here…

To return to the introduction, click here…