East Street Arts teams up with Bow Arts to extend access to affordable studio finder tool across Yorkshire & the North

Arts charity East Street Arts in Leeds have partnered with Bow Arts, one of the UK's leading providers of affordable artist studio space, to extend access to Artist Studio Finder for free, promoting affordable studios across Yorkshire and the North of England, and granting local providers the use of a tool that connects them with artist designers and makers across the regions.

Set up by Bow Arts in 2011, Artist Studio Finder is a free digital platform for not-for-profit studio providers to advertise their available spaces directly to artists, and for artists to find trustworthy studio space that is affordably priced and suitable for their practice. The partnership reflects a longstanding belief that proper studio space is not a nice-to-have for artists, but the foundation for the ongoing development of their practice. Across Leeds and beyond, East Street Arts has used empty and meanwhile buildings to give artists room to work, while playing a part in the wider regeneration of those areas.

Studio providers will be able to register on the site and promote their spaces. Artists moving in and between London and the North will now be able to search for studio space across the two regions with ease.

"Artists need proper places to make work, and those places do more than house a practice. They anchor artists in communities and help regenerate the areas around them. Extending Artist Studio Finder north means more studio providers can be found by the artists who need them, and more places can benefit from having artists rooted in them as part of our national campaign securing better workspaces for artists." - Jon Wakeman, East Street Arts

"Artist Studio Finder was established in 2011 in London. It was an instant success, supporting thousands of early career artists across the capital to find proper, safe, secure, registered providers where they can thrive and build their careers. It's so exciting to now spread this simple idea to the North, through our partnership with East Street Arts. Who, like us, have been committed to serving and supporting our creative communities for well over 30 years." - Marcel Baettig, Bow Arts

Visit Artist Studio Finder at www.artiststudiofinder.org

Artist Studio Finder is supported by Arts Council England.