Something that we are very fortunate to be able to do, as a not-for-profit venue, is take a chance on new or unusual artists.

Whether it’s hosting somebody’s very first exhibition to showcasing a scratch performance

An Art House moment – local musician Mike Vaughan starts to sing Steve Lowis‘ favourite song, Steve joins in. You can’t put a price on this stuff.

destined for the Edinburgh fringe, we are committed to making a space for art that isn’t necessarily a ‘sure thing’ in terms of money making.

We are a Community Interest company and our first aim on the list is ‘Promoting grassroots, fringe and outsider Art’.

We run an intimate, informal space where artists can experiment, take chances, and creativity can unfold at it’s own pace.

It costs us around £1 per minute to run, but what a lot can happen in one minute here!

How we do this is to run a cafe, which makes an income to fund the performance and

The Fundometricator in the Cafe shows you how we are doing each week!

workshop space upstairs.

Quite literally, when you visit here, you become an Art patron when you buy a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, or tuck into a Burrito (there aren’t many Burritos you can say THAT about, are there!).

This model works well, in partnership with donations from our supporters, ‘magic hat’ donations from people using the space and sales of clothes in the Boutique, as well as ticket sales from our more popular events.

We’ve always wanted to keep our running costs covered without funding, as funding has a habit of running out, leaving you and all who use your space high and dry.

So, Burritos = art.

The Burritos also ARE a work of art in themselves!

We like that.

Having the space funded in this way by our community means, when we look at a performer, visual artist or maker, we can provide a showcase for those who give us a good feeling.

Not a feeling that ‘OOoooo, lots of people will buy that/come to that’…. but a feeling that what we are looking at is good art, interesting art, challenging art, art made by somebody who needs a chance to showcase it.

If you like this kind of art, risky art, non-standard art, as much as we do, then do take a look at our What’s on page and come in to see an exhibition.

And don’t forget to have a Burrito (or something else from our menu), or pop something in the Magic Hat, to make sure we can keep providing a space for creativity in Southampton.