“True art is always found where we least expect it, where nobody thinks about it or utters its name.”
— Jean Dubuffet, L’Art brut préféré aux arts culturels, 1949
Art was least expected to be found in a scruffy but stunning glass building in the Western suburbs of Swindon.
Enter Studio BRUT
My view of how it all went as a co-founder:
We had the opening of Studio BRUT in Swindon, Wiltshire, on the 15th of August 2026, and it was overwhelmingly positive. I must admit, a couple of days before I was very stressed about it. I felt like there was too much to do. But I got a lovely group of people to help me finish what needed to be done, and it worked out in the end.
I got there early to help the DJ set up. I briefed my niece on how to use the card machine and get donations for drinks and artwork. There were a couple of journalists in there waiting[1], they came around a bit earlier, and they interviewed me while the people poured in. Then all of a sudden there were 100 people there at least.
I’m just really surprised at how calm and confident I felt. I had the most clarity I’ve ever had in that kind of situation. It was as if I was meant to be there. It’s hard to explain. It just felt natural, let’s put it that way. It felt natural that I was there, doing what I was doing. I dropped the shy little boy that held me back in so many situations like that.
I had interviews with a couple of local media outlets and radio[2], and chatted with so many people. It was non-stop talking all night. People came up to me, and as soon as someone finished talking to me, someone else had grabbed me. And it didn’t feel stressful. The only thing I was a bit stressed about, not stressed about, but I wanted to speak to more people and I didn’t get a chance to. There were some people I invited that I just wanted to chat to, and I didn’t get to, because there was so much going on.
The first half an hour flew by. Everyone came in, and then there was time for the speeches. I got the people together myself: Dr Rod Hebden from Swindon Culture Collective, and Claire Garrett, who is the Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire and a fabulous social entrepreneur as well, and then the local mayor, Neil Hopkins, Swindon Mayor.
I opened up saying how grateful I was for people to be there. Not in a false way. I said that your presence means a lot, and just being here tonight is not nothing, it’s more. I said that you chose to be here tonight, you could be doing anything else, and you chose to be here, and it means a lot to me.
Then I went into the ideas behind it, and I said a couple of rules for the evening. I said to drink lots of beer, and I didn’t get any laughs at all. And then I said spend more time with the paintings than feels natural to you. Just spend a bit more time and see what unfolds. Because with social media these days we glance at things and we scroll through things, and it doesn’t have a second thought really. So I encourage that, and I always will do now. And then I said photography and video is encouraged: the more that people take photos and share, the more it gets the word out.
And then the event was open. The mayor usually cuts a ribbon. I had no ribbon or scissors, so I tied a piece of cloth to the door, and it just looked a bit tacky, and the mayor didn’t cut it in the end. It’s fine. But I opened the studio doors, and people started looking around the studio part of it as well.
Just after the speeches, I had a massive surprise from my siblings who live in Margate, Kent, which is a really cool arts place actually. They drove down three hours to come and see the exhibition. In the morning of that day they all wished me luck with the exhibition and I was really moved by that, and then they ended up turning up to the event. I was just over the moon. It meant the world to me. It really did.
The night carried on. We got lots of donations, we had a fabulous time, and it was just bustling, and lots of chat with all those different people. Then it starts to quieten down about half eight, and a few latecomers turned up, my close friend Charlie. The vibe totally changed and it was very chill. There were probably about 15, 20 people, and then it dwindled down to about 10, and we came to a natural end just around nine o’clock instead of half nine, which was actually fine.
The only thing I would say about the location: it’s fine, and it’s a gorgeous, gorgeous building, but it’s not in the town centre. If it was in the town centre there could be more scope for doing it a bit later, and people partying a bit more. But it’s absolutely fine. It’s creating its own thing out of town, and it’s serving that community in the Peatmoor area of Swindon.
So I was absolutely over the moon with the exhibition, and then we kept on with the momentum. I spoke to BBC Wiltshire on the Sunday for some sound bites, and then on the Monday morning to say how it went[3]. I spoke a bit about Quentin Blake, how he messaged. I contacted him and he sent his best wishes. He said he couldn’t attend. He’s 93 now, bless him. I don’t know how much he gets about, and I’m not too sure where he lives as well, it’s quite a way to go.
And the press has kept rolling: interviews, photographs, more emails than I can keep up with[4]. It has been genuinely exciting, and I would be lying if I said it wasn’t.
But a conversation this week put all of it back in its proper place. I was chatting with Helen Downie, whose work I have admired for years, and we ended up agreeing that successes like this are lovely, but it always comes back to the enjoyment of creating the work. Everything else, as she put it, is a kind of noise.
That one is staying with me. The press, the mayor, the full room: all wonderful jubilant noise. The making of art is the thing.
On the Monday a good friend, Fenella Rouse, came to see the space, so I got to give her a private tour. She kindly bought some postcards and stuff. She couldn’t make it on the opening, and I said on Monday I’m going to the studio, why don’t you pop down, come along and see what it’s all about. It was a real pleasure to show her around.
So yeah, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. And the next steps are having this open call for the next group exhibition. It’s open to Wiltshire based or working local artists, outsiders, if you want to showcase your work.
So yeah. Let’s do the next thing.
Salon des Refusés…
Watch this space!
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THANK YOU
None of this happened alone. The opening night ran on generosity:
Swindon Culture Collective and Hypha Studios, who made the space possible. Cass Art and CREATE Education Project, backing the studio and the free makerspace to come. Arkell’s and Tap Social Movement, who stocked the bar between them (Tap Social’s beer arrived two days before opening, driven up from Oxford). Flawsome! Drinks, for the soft options. WillSecure, who kept the door safe for free. Bert’s Books, flying the flag. And Gideon Liddiard, who photographed the whole night: every picture in this post is his.
“These artists derive everything from their own depths, and not from the conventions of classical or fashionable art.” Dubuffet
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FOOTNOTES
[1] Swindon24 came along and wrote it up two days later: “Underused Swindon building transformed into new outsider art studio” (16 August 2026). https://www.swindon24.co.uk/news/underused-swindon-building-transformed-into-new-outsider-art-studio/
[2] Before the night, Dave Franklin previewed us in The Swindonian: “Self-taught Swindon artists open town’s first outsider art studio and gallery” (22 July) https://theswindonian.co.uk/culture/self-taught-swindon-artists-open-towns-first-outsider-art-studio-and-gallery/ , Rhona Jack wrote about us in her INK Magazine culture column, online at The Ink (30 July) https://theinkswindon.substack.com/p/all-systems-go-for-swindon-city-of , and Mike Buss announced the night on Entertainment Swindon (14 August) https://entertainmentswindon.co.uk/2026/08/14/swindon-mayor-to-open-swindons-first-professional-art-studio-for-outsider-artists/
[3] BBC Radio Wiltshire had us on across the opening weekend: live from the studio on the Saturday morning, sound bites on the Sunday, and a how-did-it-go chat on the Monday. I’ll try my best to locate the recordings.
[4] Raw Vision, the world’s outsider art magazine since 1989, featured the opening in their weekly newsletter the week before we opened, with a piece in the September print magazine to come.