Read the interview transcript

Ben Luke: Now Studio Voltaire, the not-for-profit exhibition space and studio complex in Clapham, South London, is 30 years old this year. It's marking the anniversary with a series of events, including a gala dinner earlier this week and a Christie's auction later this month. They're part of a plan to consolidate the finances of an institution that's long punched above its weight and is now regarded as a singular and vital part of London's contemporary art ecosystem, but receives comparatively little funding from public sources.

I spoke to the chair of Studio Voltaire's trustees, Victoria Siddall, who's also a non-executive director of Frieze, about the organisation and plans for its future. Victoria, it's the 30th anniversary of Studio Voltaire. First of all, let's talk about the name. It's called Studio Voltaire, and I was imagining some highfalutin, ex-curator calling on their memories of their favourite literary greats, but it's not, it's a very prosaic reason why it's called Studio Voltaire, right?

Victoria Siddall: It does sound very highbrow, it's true. But just by good fortune, Studio Voltaire was originally founded on Voltaire Road. It's now on Nelsons Row in Clapham, so it has moved since those early days 30 years ago, but that's where the name came from.

BL: Right, it was an artist-run space initially, and one of those classic artist-run stories, really. Finding a space, curating your own stuff, taking time out from your practice to be in the office and trying to organise things. It was a really ad hoc kind of organisation at that point.

VS: Absolutely, and it was really about a community of artists coming together to find studio space and share studio space. And that still remains at the heart of what Studio Voltaire is today, and was a real driver for the capital campaign and redevelopment of the building, which created 40% more space for artist studios in the building. So it's one of the things that's always made Studio Voltaire unique is that it is obviously this space for extraordinary exhibitions and civic programming, but it is also a community of artists who come together every day and work together in the building.

BL: Right, and as well as being the 30th anniversary, it seems to me there's a sort of 20th anniversary here as well, because that's when the programme kind of amped up a bit. It became almost a more professional organisation about 20 years ago. When Joe Scotland came in as Curator, he's now obviously Artistic Director, and that programming, and when you look at the artists that started being shown in Studio Voltaire from that point, it's like a kind of amazing list of really major artists, emerging artists, undiscovered artists, who were suddenly given a space, which they probably hadn't had up until that point.

VS: Yes, that's very true. And so we celebrated Joe's 20th anniversary as director last year. He's also just been awarded an MBE for his work, which is an incredible recognition of everything he's done, but also everything Studio Voltaire has achieved in that time, in its sort of quiet way that has a huge impact.

And yeah, so Studio Voltaire, its mission has always been to champion emerging and underrepresented practices, often giving an artist their first solo exhibition in an institution or their first show in London or in the UK. And so when you look back at the names, some of which are now so familiar to us, you realise what a vital role an organisation like Studio Voltaire plays in the art ecosystem, because really, I often think the curators of Studio Voltaire have one of the hardest jobs, which is going out there and finding what other people aren't seeing yet and giving it that platform.

And as you say, that's included artists like Nairy Baghramian, Phyllida Barlow, Anne Collier, Nicole Eisenman, who I think made sculpture for the first time during her residency at Studio Voltaire, which is an incredible show in 2012. Sanya Kantarovsky, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Cathy Wilkes, an incredible list of artists. And if you look at what those artists have gone on to do, and actually in some cases where those artworks have ended up, there's works that were originally commissioned by Studio Voltaire that have gone on to be presented and collected by institutions, including Tate, the Whitney, the British Museum, Moderna Museets. So the ripple effects of Studio Voltaire's work are felt far and wide.

BL: Right, very much so. The interesting thing is it's in Clapham. It's not what we would call an art world centre within London. And especially the road it's on, it's not even in really central Clapham. It's kind of a really quiet road. Nearby there's social housing and so on. It's really quite a quiet space. You have to seek it out a bit. And I wonder to what extent that is at one level a disadvantage in the sense that it's not at the centre, so you can't easily get people like collectors and major funders and so on out there, but also an advantage to the artist because it's a quiet space where you can take risks. And I know that risk taking is like a crucial factor in what Joe's always explained to me about Studio Voltaire. It's really trying to work at the cutting edge. And so therefore it's a double edged sword, its location, right?

VS: Absolutely. And I think, you know, one other thing that is vital to bear in mind is that it's also one of the only art institutions of its kind in that part of London. And it plays a really vital role in the community as well in terms of public engagement, you know, the kind of civic programming, essentially, the learning, working with school children, also working with teachers – especially given the lack of current art provision in schools. That's actually been a vital aspect of what it does. So having places like Studio Voltaire in parts of London and the UK that are not otherwise served by art institutions is particularly important.

BL: And it's really interesting if you look at the website for Studio Voltaire, there's this whole section where it looks at that history, around that area. And it very much identifies itself within communities of different kinds. So for instance, there's been a really strong LGBTQIA+ programming strand and it very clearly locates it within a history of that community in that area and so on. And in all sorts of ways, it's very rooted in Clapham. And also it reaches out to grassroots communities within Clapham. So the history, community and so on are deeply embedded in everything Studio Voltaire does, it seems to me.

VS: Absolutely, and it's a great kind of balance between the international impacts of its programming, but the very, very local impact of its work with communities and this sort of impact on the audience. And something else that Studio Voltaire has done is taken art outside of the gallery as well. They've presented extraordinary artworks in hospitals, on street corners, billboards, bus stops, London Underground stations, an extraordinary commission by Phyllida Barlow in a cemetery.

They measured the number of people who'd experienced those works. And last year, that was 1.9 million people. It's quite an extraordinary number.

BL: Yeah, absolutely. And then of course, there's this commercial arm, House of Voltaire. It's a really difficult thing to get right, it seems to me, when a public gallery like Studio Voltaire develops a commercial entity. But the thing is that one of the things that I know is that I have items that I've got from House of Voltaire. A lot of them are really affordable for a start, but also there's a deep affection for the House of Voltaire in the art world, which is difficult to get right. Becoming more commercial can easily prompt frowns from the art world, can't it?

VS: It can, but I think, look, I mean, Studio Voltaire has always been sort of nimble and ambitious in that way. And we launched House of Voltaire as a response to a need. We needed to raise money, but didn't want to do it in necessarily the traditional way that everyone else had done and wanted to make it fun as well. And also something that artists responded to with enthusiasm and creativity. And, you know, House of Voltaire was launched as a kind of shop/brand, essentially, and, you know, encouraged artists to make a shop product or collaborate with a fashion designer to make something. And it just, I think it really sparked artists' imaginations. And I'm glad to hear that your house is also, like mine, packed with treasures from House of Voltaire over the years.

BL: I covet my Pablo Bronstein matchsticks!

VS: Oh, I have that too! But look, the context of this, I think, is important to state, which is that Studio Voltaire receives 4% of its funding as public funding, essentially, leaving 96% to raise. You know, it's a hugely ambitious target every year that the team needs to address.

So initiatives like House of Voltaire are absolutely vital, you know, and I think it also, the success of it points to how artists feel about Studio Voltaire generally. And, you know, what has enabled it to put on these extraordinary shows and programme these incredible learning, engagement, civic programmes is the support that Studio Voltaire has from artists and from a group of patrons who really understand and appreciate the vision and the mission of what we're doing.

BL: Right, and you've described, or Studio Voltaire has described the very difficult funding landscape that you're in, I think one of the things that it seems to me must be really crucial in terms of understanding that landscape is the fact that there are 50 plus artists on site and those artists are in the fortunate position to have a studio there. But at the same time, they are having to meet all sorts of really, really difficult criteria for funding of projects and so on.

They are very conscious of the kind of precarity of being an artist and therefore that must transmit itself to the organisation and it seems to me that's crucial. If you are to understand just how difficult the landscape is, having working artists on site every single day must be incredibly instructive actually.

VS: Absolutely. It's a really unique insight into the state of affairs for artists as well as non-profits, obviously as Studio Voltaire is. And it's not an easy time for non-profits, museums, in all arts organisations across all art forms, I would say. And it's a time that does require initiative and innovation and frankly, philanthropy as well. Like we're all reliant on the generosity of individuals as well who really understand what we're doing. And I would also say brands, you know, one of the greatest innovations I think that's launched at Studio Voltaire in recent years is the LOEWE Studio Award, which LOEWE and Jonathan Anderson saw the need for, but also the impact they could have through this.

And of the 60 or so studios in the Studio Voltaire building, seven of those are given to artists with limited financial means, as means tested. And these are artists who would not otherwise be able to afford to live and work in London. And not only are they giving studios, they're also given a stipend, they're given professional development support and so on. And there have been some incredible success stories through that, actually. One of which is Nnena Kalu, who was in the first round of the LOEWE studio allocation – and her work has now been acquired by Tate. But my understanding is it's Tate's first acquisition of an artist with learning disabilities. So an incredible story again to sort of start in the grassroots of Studio Voltaire, and build out into something really significant.

BL: So within the context of that very difficult funding landscape, the auction, which begins tonight, as we're talking, it's Tuesday as we speak, and the first part of it is part of a gala dinner tonight. So basically, there is an amazing roll call of artists that you've convinced to give a work to this auction. But again, you talked about House of Voltaire being necessary. This is necessary if Studio Voltaire needs to do what it wants to do, right?

VS: Absolutely. And this is why we've launched the Studio Voltaire Future Fund, which is essentially what we are getting off the ground tonight with this celebratory 30th anniversary gala. And the response and generosity of artists has been incredibly moving, actually. We're relying on this campaign to allow Studio Voltaire to continue the vital work that it does for the next five years. We've got quite high ambitions from it, but actually, the kind of generosity that's been shown through our secured works has been extraordinary. And we've got an incredible committee in place. We have people naming studios within the building, many galleries as well – commercial galleries who see the importance of Studio Voltaire in the ecosystem – also donating money, which is wonderful.

But as you say, there is an auction taking place of donated artworks. There's also a selling exhibition of donated artworks, not everything will be auctioned, but a large group of the works will be sold at Christie's in their Contemporary Sale on the 27th of June. But all of the works in the selling exhibition and the works that will be auctioned are on display at Studio Voltaire. So it's possible to go and see them all in person.

BL: And the group of artists that are involved, in a way, it's a kind of reflection of that history. So Nairy Baghramian has given one work. But then you've got an artist like Jake Grewal, a really great young painter who's contributed a work. So there's a sense in which it's both looking backwards across the 30 years of Studio Voltaire's existence, but also looking to the future, as you say. And this Future Fund is a crucial part of that.

VS: Absolutely. And then artists like Cecily Brown, who hasn't necessarily had a close relationship with the gallery, but sees the importance of the work that Studio Voltaire is doing. Andrew Cranston has given a work, Paulina Olowska, Cathy Wilkes. It's a really incredible group of works, actually. And yeah, I think we'll do extremely well, but just in terms of the advocacy of that and the artists showing their support for what Studio Voltaire is doing, it's incredibly important to us as well, it means a lot.

BL: And lastly, what is the ambition then? If you have a Future Fund, do you want to grow or is it about keeping going? To what extent is this about consolidation and to what extent is it about developing new strands, new ideas and so on?

VS: I'd say it's a combination. Studio Voltaire has always punched above its weight, essentially. And since the reopening of the Gallery in 2021, there has been a much bigger ambition and actual impact in terms of the exhibitions, the engagement with artists, the studio provision, the civic programming, the education programming. It has all increased dramatically since that reopening, but the public funding has not. And so the Future Fund is essentially meeting that gap and enabling Studio Voltaire to continue this vital work that it's doing, supporting artists, supporting communities for five years. That's the goal.

BL: Right. I mean, there's a part of me that's sort of thinking, my God, this shows you just how precarious it all is. Because, I mean, if you look at your anniversary group, it's an amazing group of people. And there are lots of, for instance, you mentioned LOEWE, Jonathan Anderson from LOEWE is on there. But then you've got loads of commercial gallery people, lots of people with enormous influence. And it makes you think about just how precarious it is for other institutions. Studio Voltaire over 30 years has been lucky enough or tenacious enough and so on to build up this incredible reputation. But it really does give you an idea of how difficult the landscape is when you're needing all of these people just to keep this amazing institution going actually.

VS: Yes. And as I said, I mean, look, Studio Voltaire is in a specific position in that, as I said, only 4% of its annual turnover comes from public funding. And in most comparable institutions, it's a higher percentage. But I will say, I do think that these concerns apply across the board. You know, this is a really tough time for our organisations generally. And they all need support, you know, from the big museums to small nonprofits. And they contribute so much to our society, to our culture, to our soft power as a nation. You know, they really do. And this is something that we should all feel incredibly proud of and responsible for, I think, and do what we can to kind of sustain, especially London, as this real centre of art and creativity and extraordinary organisations like Studio Voltaire.

BL: Victoria, thank you so much.

VS: Pleasure, great talking to you.