Artists Make Space
Richmond Arts Service supports artists by providing free studio spaces across the borough. In 2025-26, they are working in:
- Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham
- The Old Town Hall, Richmond
- OSO Arts Centre, Barnes
More about the programme:
Artists who do not currently live or work in Richmond Upon Thames may apply if they are able to demonstrate that they will bring something innovative and exciting to the borough during their proposed residency, however priority is given to those who live, work or study in the Borough.
Richmond Arts Service invites arts organisations, artist collectives’ and individual artists living, working or studying in Richmond Upon Thames to apply to our Artists Make Space Programme.
The selected artists, artist organisations or artist collectives will be supported with a space free of charge to practice their art, experiment with new creative techniques, hold meetings, etc.
Previous Participants
George Aydin
Where: Old Town Hall, Richmond
When: July 2025 to August 2026
Biography
George Aydin is a cross-disciplinary artist, working most intimately with sculpture and installation. He infuses sound, film and writing into his practice too.
George’s process is to play with materials and find experimental ways of making. These ways of making become established and are usually laborious and repetitive, to reach a new reflexive monotony. He works with a range of materials from wire, sheet and rod metal to fabric and crochet, focusing on and any material that contains infinite potential.
By engaging in the act of world-building, concepts, characterisations and starting points emerge. He is influenced by fiction and storytelling as well as art theory and draws on concept-based art generation. These processes of thinking and making amalgamate to create a sense of ‘Aliveness’, and entities that are no longer objects. Through experimenting with automation these things begin to be possible.
George received a BA in Fine Art from the University of Arts London, Chelsea, graduating in 2024.
More information on Artists Make Space.
Amanda Randall
Where: Old Town Hall, Richmond
When: October 2025 to April 2026
Biography
Amanda Randall creates abstract stone carvings inspired by plants and fungi. Working with British limestones, she hand carves stone using traditional tools. The curving forms and organic textures of her work evoke seed cases, shells, and fossils. Her work celebrates nature’s resilience and beauty while acknowledging its fragility.
Amanda curates and initiates projects addressing environmental issues. Nature on the Line (2022) and Drawing on Ham Lands (2025) featured her carvings made from locally sourced stone. She runs an annual stone carving festival in Dorset and is a trustee and tutor at the Burngate Purbeck Stone Centre. She offers carving classes for all ages to promote the mental health benefits of making by hand. A graduate of Maidstone School of Art (1982–85), she has created many public artworks, especially in rural settings. Since 2015, she has focused on stone carving to explore our deep connection with the natural world.