There’s a new kid on the block in Bath’s art scene. Fiercely independent, anti-pretension and pro-inclusivity, Roseberry Road Studios offers unusual exhibitions, alternative music nights, regular yoga classes, and much, much more. India Farnham catches up with Louise Rushford, Creative Director, and James Carlin, Chief Executive, to find out what all the buzz is about…
The first thing that surprises you about Roseberry Road Studios is its remarkable location. Never has the phrase hidden gem rung truer. Perched in an unlikely spot just outside town in Twerton, the building backs directly onto the River Avon and is positioned only steps away from a major Second World War memorial.
The expanse of this waterside haven will strike you next. Roseberry Road Studios, which was set up in 2023 as a not-for-profit arts centre, consists of three spaces: a large downstairs space for music nights, The Bunker, a light and airy upstairs gallery, The Christoph Moser Gallery, and six artist studios. And since their inception, the team has made great use of all three; from Disco & Funk DJ nights to immersive art installations, Roseberry Road Studios is shaking up the status quo.
“When I first entered the building, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, the parties that you could have in here!’”
James Carlin
And the surprises don’t stop there. Unlike many a traditional arts space (where you come and go as quietly as possible), entering Roseberry Road Studios is more like entering a friend’s home; you ring a doorbell and then wait a few moments to be let in by a member of the team. That way, you’ve got a companion from your very first moment in the building.
This personal connection to visitors is incredibly important to the Roseberry team. “What with self-checkouts being the norm now in supermarkets, some people really just don’t get a chance to chat to someone day-to-day. There are people who come here for a chat because they feel welcomed, and that’s really special,” Louise explains.
“We had an autistic guy who emailed us ahead of time asking if he was getting on the right bus from Swindon. He said Roseberry Road Studios was the first place he’d felt comfortable coming to dance. It honestly makes me well up,” James shares.
Roseberry Road Studios has only been running in its current form as an arts centre for a year and a half, but the team has worked hard to establish inclusion as one of its core values early doors. At the time I visited, the Cubans by Cubans exhibition was on, an exhibition created entirely by, and with images of, people of colour.
“We want to make sure all ages, all creeds, all ethnicities and all types of people feel comfortable here. If you come to a music night here, you might see someone who’s 70 on the dancefloor, or you might see someone who’s 18,” Louise shares with a smile.
“The diversity here is one of the best things about the job, actually,” James explains. “People say to you, ‘Bath is totally white,’ and it’s just absolutely not. We pull all sorts of people here because our event programme is varied and exciting. We’re not just platforming the same kind of people.”
Something for everyone
Whilst Louise takes care of programming art exhibitions, James works on curating the music events. They both feel it’s important, within reason, to programme unusual or non-commercial artists as often as they can.
“We try and have a real range of quality musicians here. We work with young promoters to provide them with opportunities to put acts on, and we try to celebrate genres of music that aren’t particularly accessible in the other parts of Bath,” James says.
Sometimes this comes with trial and error, but often times, it comes with trial and success.
“We had a Brazilian jazz singer here. I was up for it, but I had no idea how popular it would be,” James continues, “…and it sold out! It blew me away to see 190 people dancing and singing in Portuguese in Bath. It was incredible. We’ve had the same thing happen with Drum and Bass nights. They’re always really popular too.”
Of course, choosing artists that are appealing to many and not too niche is a balancing act. “I don’t want to show things here that are too obscure for most people because at the end of the day, this is a community centre,” Louise explains candidly. “There’s a lot of pretension in art, and I don’t want that here. So it’s trying to get a mix of very cutting edge stuff, but also very approachable stuff.”
The Cubans exhibition came about through a connection to Cuba via Louise’s daughter. But Louise has also been selecting artwork locally. The previous exhibition in The Christoph Moser Gallery was called Tree and was made up of artwork from eight artists that Louise sourced from local universities and at Spike Island in Bristol. Affordability is important to the team, and so all the exhibitions at the gallery are free. Music nights remain as low-cost as the team can get them, and bar prices are below average.
Whilst both Louise and James are keen to distance Roseberry Road Studios from the building’s previous occupation as an event hire space, they do offer a 50% discount to charities who want to use the space for private events, parties or workshops. “We’re a not-for-profit at the moment, but we’ll be becoming our own charity soon, so connecting with other charities is important to us,” James adds.
For Louise and James, Roseberry Road Studios’ tucked-away location is a blessing. “I think we’re a bit freer from competition over here,” James offers. “We get a lot of people who love arts and culture coming through the doors who say ‘I never knew about this place.’ Since people have to make a bit of a journey to get here, our visitors come in with the intention to enjoy the art or music; we don’t just get people wandering in.”
The team also makes an active effort to engage with their local community in Twerton.
“We want to make sure we’re a proper part of this community, and a bridge for these people who live outside of the city centre. The other day Louise had 60 school kids from Twerton all sitting in here, learning about Cuba and visiting the exhibition. That really is the dream,” James says with a smile.
“They were so well behaved!” Louise interjects, “and they all left saying ‘Adios Louise!’”
Who’s who
Roseberry Road Studios was founded by the building’s private owner, Ruth Moser, who, along with Calum Mackenzie and Caspar Curtis-Mackenzie, had a vision to make a vibrant arts centre to give back to the city.
Before the studios, The Woodworks Project was based in the building, a charity set up by Ruth’s husband to provide disadvantaged people with skills in carpentry. Clearly, using the arts to benefit the community is a family affair.
Outside of Ruth, Louise and James (and their Marketing Coordinator, Khushi Karia) are Roseberry Road Studios’ only staff.
James was approached by Ruth to join the team two years ago. “I come from a background of working at lots of different charities in Bath. Ruth found me whilst I was at Bath City Football Club and said ‘I’ve got a job for you.’ When I first entered the building, I was so excited, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, the parties that you could have in here!’ I’ve always been inspired by making Bath better, and so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
The arts had always been a part of Louise’s life. “I went to art school in London, studied sculpture, and then did a postgraduate in contemporary dance. Across my career I’ve worked as a dancer, an artist, a designer and a teacher, but this is the first time I’ve been in charge of running an arts centre.”
Working under a private owner means that Louise and James don’t have to say yes to everyone that wants to use the space. This creative control is something they both adore. “We’re so lucky to have so much freedom, and we completely realise it’s a great responsibility, too! We’re proud of being independent, it gives us more personality. As soon as you become too corporate, there are more rules and regulations and templates, which we’re not about,” Louise states.
How do the two of them work together? “We get on really well,” James explains, “We have different skill sets, and so we handle different parts of the business. We don’t try and both do curation for art and music, I think that would be confusing.”
To the future
It’s evident within moments of my conversation with Louise and James that this centre means everything to them.
“Since we’ve been working on the studios, we haven’t really rested on our laurels for more than a few moments,” James shares earnestly. He continues, “We’re quite restless like that, and we’re nowhere near where we want to be yet.”
“You just can’t do this without being passionate,” Louise adds. “If we weren’t so passionate, we’d be closed. I really believe that.”
It seems this cocktail of passion, independence and careful curation is paying off. The studios have seen a number of sold-out events, and their Instagram following has more than quadrupled in the last two years.
Even within the hour or so that I am sitting with the team in the exhibition space, more and more visitors are trickling in, each of them individually welcomed into the building.
At one point, when Louise is telling me about the Cubans private view and how she made 200 free jelly shots, a visitor to the exhibition calls over to say that she was there, and that she loved it. It’s a really lovely atmosphere.
What does the future look like for Roseberry Road Studios, if all goes to plan?
“It would be nice to build more studios, and give more artists a chance to create and display work here. It would also be nice to have a café one day. It’s funny, when we first had a conversation about building a café a year ago, we were like ‘don’t be silly, we’re nowhere near having enough visitors for that’, and now we really, really are,” Louise shares proudly.
Important to them both, however, is to continue surprising people, to make them think. “It’s what art is there for,” Louise confirms.
“Maybe there’ll be a day where we won’t be able to describe ourselves as a hidden gem, because we’ll be too well known,” James imagines. “Then we’ll just be a gem!”
Something tells me that day is not far off.
Roseberry Road Studios | 25 – 28 Roseberry Road, Bath BA2 3DX
roseberryroadstudios.com @roseberryroadstudios