PEER gallery and Pocket Park

With a modest budget – raised from a number of sources including crowdfunding, the Mayor’s Pocket Park fund and the Arts Council – we transformed the area in front of a Post Office, flats and PEER gallery, on Hoxton Street, from a drab, neglected and unloved area into an open and welcoming public space.

This was achieved by
Removing the dilapidated and unwelcoming municipal brick planters which encouraged antisocial behaviou
Creating a new community garden with a planted vertical wall and new public plaza with trees, seating, bike stands and art installation
Building a new gallery façade to create an ‘art’ shopfront animating the public spac
Involving the community in planting and maintenance of a new garden – Khadija’s garden, named in memory of PEER’s intern, the artist Khadija Saye who was heavily involved in the fundraising for these capital improvements and who was one of the 71 people who died in the Grenfell fire
Installing new art pieces that animate the new public space; an Art Clock, with an inaugural installation by Chris Ofili, inhabitable sculpture by London Fieldworks and PEER gallery’s new shopfront

These improvements have created a much used and loved public space, which provides PEER gallery with a public presence showcasing their art/community exhibitions.