Right then, First Thursday at Cultivate and down Vyner Street is almost upon us once more, extra special one this time, WE ARE THREE.

That’s right, it was three years ago this week we (Emma, myself and a small gang of helpers) frantically opened and here we are, three years later, battle-scared but still doing it. We’ve brought you three non-stop year of art, we think it has been exciting.. We opened on September First Thursday evening in 2011, we’ve been there for every single First Thursday since, sometime alongside a full street, sometimes the only ones committed enough to be there. For us Vyner Street is a special place, a special thing, a unique place, most of the other galleries seem to think it is all about them, but we know it is about a street, a community, a place that so many have put so much in to over the last 20 years or so, a place far bigger than any one gallery or person.

MARC FIRST THURSDAY M.O.B, EMMA HARVEY, JULIA MADDISON

The street is dying in terms of art now, the DIY community that grew out of the squats, the artists taking over almost abandoned factories and turning them in to studios and galleries, that has all but gone, the spirit of artists coming together to make it happen all but chased out by developers, urbanists, estate agents, rents and the rest, but there is still something special there, one last stand before the tech hubs, the fancy food and the plush new developments kill it for good….

And First Thursday is still a thing, last month was an excellent evening and this month we shall be on our corner celebrating with what we think are walls full of strong exciting art. We’ll be there alongside Wayward, Hada, Wilkinson and the other galleries and spaces, the good people of the Victory, the artists who have hired Vyner Street Gallery this week, and whatever else pops up in and around the street on the evening (not expecting naked red men covered in honey this time).

Three years of being there for every single First Thursday, we’re rather proud of it, we’ve taken a lot of crap in order to survive this long, I should put a link to Whitechapel Gallery First Thursdays but frankly they’ve done nothing to support our three years of commitment to their event and even more frankly, if we weren’t there on the corner with our open doors and lights full on the street their event would be a lot less alive on a First Thursday than it has with us there, what with the rest of them hiding behind closed doors or not even bothering and such… enough… this is a time to celebrate, anger may be a n energy, but this not the time, this is a celebration of what artists can do if they really want to

WE ARE THREE, WE’VE GOT SOME GREAT ART AND ARTISTS, COME CELEBRATE THE LAST ARTIST-RUN SPACE IN A VERY SPECIAL STREET…. YOU’LL MISS IT AND US WHEN IT HAS ALL GONE. THREE WHOLE YEARS, WE WERE ONLY GOING TO DO IT FOR SIX MONTHS!

the open sign outside Cultivate….