Altruistic Art: two years, two spaces, one purpose. A community rising – Mid Street Lab
Two years ago, Mid Street Lab began as a tiny, improvised experiment. A borrowed corner of east Kemptown, a handful of artists balancing work, care, illness, burnout and belief, and a simple question: What if the future of art belongs not to the privileged few, but to the people actually living the reality of modern life?
Today, that experiment has grown into Wach’Art CIC, Mid Street Lab × The Vault, and a movement we now call Altruistic Art: creativity rooted in lived experience, shared humanity and the belief that art strengthens society only when the artists creating it reflect the society itself.
The past two years have shown us this truth again and again. We’ve watched artists like Ole Skauge, Marije Brom, Rachel Benjamin, Dr. Jane Savage, Bo Lucas, Rikki Tarascas, Luc Raesmith, Adam McAvoy, Callum Howard-Tracy, Broken Glass, Jessica Sheehan and so many others step into our spaces with stories shaped by class, caregiving, neurodivergence, migration, illness, queerness, late blooming, grief and the fragile ambition of people who keep creating anyway.
These artists are not a niche. They are the 90%. They are the emotional, social and cultural core of Brighton.
And in 2025, the public saw it too through our acclaimed shows Anti-Art, Time Is The Real Currency, Still, I Am Because You Are and Roots & Routes; our seafront Art Salon; our community collaborations with Cabaret Lab and Blistopia Studio; and the hundreds of visitors who walked into The Lab and The Vault not just to look at art, but to recognise themselves in it.
From the Lab to The Vault: a new creative ecosystem. Our two spaces work together the way real creative lives unfold. The Lab, our Kemptown studio, is the root system: a place for experimentation, restarts, belonging, learning, research, safety and the beautiful mess of making. The Vault, our seafront site, is the canopy: visibility, confidence, collectors, audience connection and career momentum.
We built this dual ecosystem because the old models were failing the people who needed art the most. We formed a representative Board of Directors whose strength comes not from ticking labels, but from intersectional lived experience, real-world complexity that is often ignored, leaving creators vulnerable and unsupported.
This year, we have the rare opportunity to show the city what two years of Altruistic Art looks like: a collective practice shaped by anthropology, community wellbeing, neuroaesthetics and the resilience of everyday creators.
No more gimmicks. No more exploitative open calls. No more pretending art exists separately from the people who make it.
In 2026, our focus is on elevating artists through development pathways, paid roles, collaborative projects, Flow Mode expansion and a stable professional structure. New membership openings are not transactions, they are the doorway into this next chapter.
80 St George’s Road, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1EF / www.midstreetlab.com
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