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Art Happens campaign launches 18th April

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Drawing Room, the UK’s leading arts organisation dedicated to contemporary drawing, is running a month-long fundraising campaign through Art Happens with Art Fund from Tuesday 18th April, to raise £25,000 towards fitting out our new, purpose-built home in Bermondsey, southeast London. The new space will be open to people of all ages and backgrounds to discover contemporary drawing.

Drawing is key to creativity and lies at the core of the making process. This new space will allow visitors to unlock drawing’s potential for themselves through free exhibitions of artists at all stages of their career. A learning space will offer free year-round activities, such as after-school drawing clubs and workshops for children, families and the wider community, and a unique Library and Research centre will be open for everyone to access and explore contemporary drawing.  

With a regular programme of conversations between artists and other creatives, artist-led workshops and projects, alongside its exhibitions, Drawing Room’s new home will be a hub for the local community and support the careers of developing artists. As the only UK art gallery dedicated solely to the medium of drawing, it will become a key cultural destination for art lovers across the capital, the UK and beyond. This project will give a major boost to Bermondsey’s burgeoning cultural scene, benefitting residents and local businesses adapting to a post-pandemic cost of living crisis. 

For 20 years Drawing Room has been nomadic and now this vital project to secure it a permanent home is close to becoming a reality – but funding is still desperately needed to fit out the space with furniture and equipment to make it inclusive and accessible to all. Art Happens is a unique crowdfunding platform that brings together the support of ordinary people to help get projects like this over the line. In return for donations, Drawing Room is offering a range of exclusive rewards, from limited edition artworks to artist-led workshops, to say thank you to its supporters. 

The crowdfunding campaign launches on Art Happens Tuesday 18th April and runs until Tuesday 16th May 2023.

About Art Fund 

Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. It provides millions of pounds every year to help museums to acquire and share works of art across the UK, further the professional development of their curators, and inspire more people to visit and enjoy their public programmes. Art Fund is independently funded, supported by Art Partners, donors, trusts and foundations and the 135,000 members who buy the National Art Pass, who enjoy free or discounted entry to over 850 museums, galleries and historic places, 50% off major exhibitions, and receive Art Quarterly magazine. Art Fund also supports museums through its annual prize, Art Fund Museum of the Year. The winner of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2022 is Horniman Museums & Gardens. www.artfund.org 

About Art Happens 

Art Happens with Art Fund is the UK’s only crowdfunding platform for museums and galleries. Since launching in 2014, museums have raised over £1 million for art and cultural projects across the country, ranging from the conservation of works of art to new exhibitions and commissions by leading artists. Previous campaigns include projects by: Charleston in East Sussex; Museum of London; Norwich Museum and Art Gallery at The Bridewell; Turner Contemporary, Margate; MK Gallery in Milton Keynes; West Highlands museum and Royal Museums Greenwich. 

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