Many Studios is led by three Directors and works collaboratively with a small creative team.

Many Studios began as a voluntary organisation, supporting and stemming from the creative practices of the founding directors. Becca, Marc and Natalia combine experience in architecture, design, curatorial practice and community engagement to create places where arts and culture can thrive, and alongside Many Studios, the team have developed and led reputable, socially-engaged organisations in Scotland and internationally.

Initially, we were asked to take care of an existing artists’ studios on the 3rd floor of a Victorian office block in the heart of the Merchant City. At this time, many collectives and artist-led spaces operated with in-kind building rental, occupying spaces until a point that landlords changed the use; creating poor infrastructure for workspace provision (and culture more generally). The development of a permanent creative hub by Many Studios was prompted by a couple of questions: how could we ensure that we can offer workspace that will be long-term, allowing artists to develop practice with some security and stability? How do you create jobs in the arts that are not susceptible to changes in public funding? We set out to see if it was possible to develop an independent arts organisation that would generate core income from services to give the organisation autonomy in decision-making and ensure we had the guaranteed income for long, secure leases on buildings. To achieve this, we needed a new space. A building that could allow us to develop a sustainable model for the organisation long term.

In 2013, with support from Glasgow City Council through the Underused Floorspace Grant, we partnered with a local landlord to retrofit a disused market building in the east end of Glasgow. This ambitious capital development project was formative for the directors' practices, working together, with little experience of this scale of development, to introduce a creative hub in the historic Barras Market. The funding was part of a legacy of the Commonwealth Games, placing the project within the context of wider regeneration of the east end of Glasgow.

We had a vision for this building, but it took years for us to see what the building could do, and what we could do in it. Alongside workspaces, the building has

• hosted an international visual art programme through The Gallow Gate. The Gallow Gate is curated by Natalia Palombo and provides a platform for the development, presentation, and discussion of contemporary visual art and culture, commissioning new work by artists including Larry Achiampong, Januario Jano, Ndidi Dike, Camara Taylor, Arpita Shah, and many more. Public progamming has focused on artists not widely visible in Scotland or the UK, including commissions for Glasgow International and participation in the Havana Biennial.

• produced unique, locally-rooted projects that have embedded the organisation in the area, including East End First Saturdays - a creative partnership across the East End which brings together diverse content on the first Saturday of each month; and Movement of Freedom, a Manifesto and Toolkit to advocate against the UK Home Office Hostile Environment and to navigate the UKVI Visa and Immigration system as creative organisations in Scotland.

• developed a consultancy practice, working across Europe, Africa and Asia to nurture and build strategies for collaboration, placemaking and cultural strategy in various contexts.

Our services and programme have emerged through the development of our director and team’s own practices, harnessing the knowledge of our community to ensure the organisation can continue to provide reliable and innovative workspace for the city, whilst offering a unique place for development, both for artists in the building and out-with.