About Hypha Studios
Hypha Studios is a registered charity that works as a mediator between landlords and artists to match artists and creatives with empty spaces on the high street and break down barriers to collaboration. Since launching in 2019, Hypha have supported the cultural sector with over £2.2M of free space, helping regenerate high streets and transform urban centres into thriving cultural hubs with free community-led events.
In June 2024, Hypha Studios and Creative Cardiff partnered to promote Hypha’s first space-activation opportunity in Wales.
Hypha Studios’ CEO and Founder, Camilla Cole, said:
Partnering with Creative Cardiff is a really exciting opportunity to support Cardiff's emerging creatives with free spaces in the heart of where they live and work. Cardiff has such a strong creative community, but the real lack of affordable spaces for creatives in Cardiff means they are pushed out of the city centre. Hypha Studios’ main objective is to put a stop to this barrier for aspiring local artists and support the thriving cultural community.
Head of Creative Cardiff, Jess Mahoney, said:
Since launching in 2015, Creative Cardiff has sought to tell the story of creativity in Cardiff. An increasingly important part of this story is the city’s physical space. As Cardiff’s reputation as a globally significant creative cluster grows, it’s more important than ever that we explore new models for investing in and preserving inclusive, accessible places where grassroots creativity can thrive. To this end, we’re delighted that Hypha Studios are bringing their innovative model to Wales for the very first time, unlocking new creative spaces in our city centre and breathing new life into unloved and under-used infrastructure. We also very much look forward to working with Future Arts Collective Cymru and PWSH / Neurospicy Play Date as they deliver their ambitious plans for the units.
About Future Arts Collective Cymru
Future Arts Collective Cymru (FACC) are here to support and promote an alternative future. One that centres community, care and joy as well as empowerment to collectively build a future from a place of hope and justice.
As a collective, they are community arts facilitators, musicians, performance artists, educators, filmmakers and craft-makers. They are formed of Kate Woodward, Reb Sutton, Neo Ukandu, Cliodhna Ryan, Sereen Al Khutubi, Trishna Jaikara and Skye Kimber.
FACC’s space on 117 Queen St is a micro-community centre where community members and groups can use the space to build the futures we want to see. This could be through attending or running their own socials, workshops, events and exhibitions.
Find out more about Future Arts Collective Cymru and their plans for the space by following their Instagram (@future_arts_collective_cymru)
PWSH X Neurospicy Playdate
PWSH artists have created joyful, radical murals and public art projects, celebrating difference and re-imagining public spaces across Cardiff. Neurospicy Playdates is run by an emerging neurodiverse arts collective who host wellness sessions for neurodivergent people. At the heart of bringing these two projects together for a co-residency is meaningful inclusion to widen access to the arts and creative wellness for marginalised people.
Their public programme includes residencies, creative wellness sessions, art workshops, takeovers, exhibitions and body doubling sessions, as well as hosting a space for conversations with the community.
They will partner with Benthyg (@benthyg) to create a weekly pop-up art library and will also collaborate with Visual World (@our.visual.world) to host weekly art clubs for Deaf people. Other upcoming events include Spicy Desk Sessions (tiny gigs), Puppet Clwb with PWSH artist Ren Wolfe, weekly Thursday evening art socials, community mural making and Gwaith will come to the space for a chat and to co-host a social in November.
Find out more about PWSH / Neurospicy Playdate and their plans for the space on their Instagram accounts (@pwshcdf / @neurospicyplaydatecdf) or visit the PWSH website.
