In 1965 Riley and Sedgley had visited a range of artist studios in semi-industrial warehouse buildings in New York, including those of
Ellsworth Kelly and
Agnes Martin, when the two artists were included in the
Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition The Responsive Eye. The idea for SPACE emerged from AIR (Artist Information Registry). Co-founder Peter Sedgley was first interested in establishing an agency that would document the work of artists and collate it into a professional ‘registry’ that would be open to anyone interested in the work of contemporary artists. In 1968, Sedgley and Riley secured a two-year lease on the ‘I-site’ building in
St Katharine Docks for the purpose of artists studios at £500 a year after which it was due to be developed. The building was to house SPACE and AIR. SPACE provided affordable studio space to artists in need; and AIR catalogued slides and exhibition information on any artist who wanted to be a part of it and made this available to interested parties—dealers, curators, collectors. Joining SPACE and AIR were a selection of smaller organisations that needed support of space including Pavilions in the Park and the
Printmakers Council. Initial funding for the venture was given by the artist
Henry Moore, who donated his prize from the
Erasmus Foundation, and grants were given by the
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the
Arts Council of Great Britain. Riley and Sedgley were joined by Peter Townsend, Professor Tony West and the actress
Irene Worth on the management committee.
Space and AIR relinquished their tenancy of the St. Katharine Dock space at the end of 1970 and moved artists into two new spaces, Martello Street studios in
Hackney and a former school in
Stepney Green. Martello Street remains SPACE's oldest studio building. This began a long and continuing history of leasing buildings for artists’ studios from a range of public and private landlords, seeking to find the best deals to allow the space to be rented affordably to artists.
Space expanded its studio provision through the 70s and early 80s with the support of studio conversion grants given by the Arts Council and funding from private foundations. With the threat of Arts Council cuts and the uncertainty of the organisation's transfer to the Greater London Arts Association (GLAA) in 1986, SPACE organised the Friends of AIR and SPACE as an independent fundraising group for the organisation. The Friends brought significant funding to the organisations through the 1980s with monies raised through subscriptions and events. A.S.G. board chair Nancy Balfour (1982 – 1989), the influential American journalist and art collector, took an active role in the Friends from the start and remained involved and personally supportive even after leaving her position on SPACE's board. == Exhibitions ==