Artist Studios & Creative Spaces to Hire in Bristol with Artspace Lifespace

Turning vacant properties into creative spaces

WHAT WE DO

Artspace Lifespace is an arts charity managing unique venues to provide affordable spaces for artists to make, develop and showcase their work. We offer a mix of artists’ studios and space to hire for exhibitions, filming, events, rehearsal and independent retail across our Bristol venues The Island, Broadmead XP (The Galleries) and Sparks Bristol.

We advocate strongly for the arts in the South West. Through our Residency Programme, the facilitation of network meetings and lobbying, we support individual artists and organisations across all sectors and art forms.

PROJECTS

A group of dancers strike a bollywood pose in a dance studio

The Island

Hosting over 100 resident artists, The Island boasts a Circus Training Space, music studios, dance studios and a beautiful art gallery.

Sparks Bristol

An art and sustainability hub where visitors can shop, create and explore what a greener, fairer future could look like.

2025 AT A GLANCE

Across our buildings; The Island, Sparks Bristol, Arts Mansion and BroadmeadXP, this is what one year of affordable creative space made possible.

Total visits across The Island, Sparks and Arts Mansion

Creatives and retailers with studio, shop and desk spaces

Value of staff time & space given in kind for residencies

Volunteer hours donated to Sparks Bristol

Support Us

Illustration of buildings and wacky, colourful characters including clowns and a huge flamingo

THE ISLAND OPEN STUDIOS 2026

Save the date for our annual celebration of the arts

On the 17th and 18th October we are opening our doors to the public to showcase the beautiful range of creativity taking place in this converted Police Headquarters building.

Book in for free sewing, dance or circus taster classes, view our artists exhibition, design a postcard and learn more about the 20 years Artspace Lifespace have spent turning vacant properties into creative places.

See full programme

Illustrations of nature motifs overlaid on a photograph of an unused building

VACANT PROPERTY TOOLKIT

A free how-to guide for creatives and communities looking to take on empty properties.

As an organisation with a reputation for taking on often difficult spaces and transforming them with creative uses, Artspace is frequently asked by other organisations for support to help them take on space or consider new uses. This toolkit shares the knowledge we’ve gained over 20 years of turning vacant buildings into creative spaces.

Download the toolkit

SPACES TO RENT

We have a wide range of rooms to hire over our four buildings.

You might be looking for a large community meeting space in Sparks Bristol , grand rooms at the Arts Mansion or police cells at The Island. Take a look and help us to continue our charitable purpose of providing support and space to the creative community.

Whether it’s film locations, training spaces or messy art studios, we have the right room for you.

Spaces to Hire

COMMUNITY OF CREATIVES

Our newest member of our artist community is Pip Ralph.

Now working from a studio at The Island Pip explores and mixes many mediums including paint, collage, sculpture and many more, with a focus on creating strange surreal scenes and colourful characters from old toys and found treasure, clay, wire and various other materials.

In the past, Pip has made sets for stop motion animations, decor for events and festivals, painted many murals and participated in several exhibitions in Bristol and Bath.

I Want To Know More

LATEST NEWS

Artspace Lifespace AGM 15th Oct 202618th Sep '26
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of ArtspaceUK (Artspace Lifespace CIO) will be held on Thursday, 15th October 2026, at 6pm. Date: Thursday, 15th October 2025 Time: 18.00-18.45 Location: The Island Gallery (First Floor, The Island, Bridewell Street, Bristol. BS1 2QD) AGENDA Welcome and Apologies  Minutes of the Previous Annual General Meeting […]
🚌 Artspace Lifespace September Newsletter 🚌2nd Sep '26
New circus classes, exhibitions and an open mic night this month at Artspace Lifespace projects @theislandbristol and @sparksbristol all in our September Newsletter.
🌻Artspace Lifespace August Newsletter🌻1st Aug '26
Wrestling, Playtime and Spaces to Hire in our August newsletter.
🏳️‍🌈 Artspace Lifespace July Newsletter 🏳️‍🌈2nd Jul '26
Rainbow Magic, Removing Guilt, Vacant Properties and our Repair Cafe all in the July Newsletter.
Vacant Property Toolkit1st Jul '26
A free how-to guide for creatives and communities looking to take on empty properties. It feels timely that the launch of our Vacant Property Toolkit coincides with the announcement of a new £61 million Community Right to Buy Fund. The initiative is intended to empower local residents in England to take ownership of assets such […]