Get out the party hats and light those candles, because this May we’re celebrating ten years of championing our borough’s cultural, quirky and creative life (yes, a whole decade of the Croydonist).

To mark the occasion, we’re hosting a special anniversary art exhibition: Concrete creativity – ten years of Croydonist artists, bringing together work by 35 artists who have featured on our social media headers over the past decade.

Running from Tuesday 5 – Friday 29 May 2026, this free exhibition will take place at the Click Clock Art Gallery in the Clocktower Café.*

And in case you’re new here – or just fancy a reminder of how it all began…

On 5 May 2016, we published our first two blog posts: Croydon: crap, concrete or quirky? by me (Julia – the Croydon native), and Alien in the Cronx by Angela (the Croydon convert).

It was a small, self-initiated attempt to challenge the negative narratives that have so often surrounded Croydon in the UK media. We launched the Croydonist as an antithesis to this – to celebrate our borough and highlight the many interesting, unusual and downright brilliant things happening here.

From a saffron farm and a mushroom farm to London’s first airport and a windmill (just to name a few), it wasn’t until we created a Croydon travel guide for friends visiting for the weekend that we realised… maybe we should start a blog.

Would we have enough to write about? We laugh about that now.

And these days, it’s not just us writing for the love of Croydon. Over the years, more than 25 guest writers have contributed features covering everything from local history and green spaces to food, music and the arts.

For me, a graphic designer to the core, I still love nothing more than writing about the quirks and culture of Croydon – especially when it includes the 50p Building, aka No.1 Croydon (the Croydonist logo is in fact a bird’s eye view of this iconic landmark, in case you didn’t know).

As for Angela, her passions remain food and film – when she’s not composing music, that is – so these regularly feature in her Cronx musings.

Alongside the blog, we’ve always shared a love for Croydon across our social media channels. Early on, our headers became an unexpected space for showcasing local artists.

What began as a simple design choice evolved into a delightful bi-monthly online gallery, with artists taking over the headers for two-month residencies. Over the past ten years, more than 60 Croydon-inspired artists have shared their work in this way.

In Concrete creativity – ten years of Croydonist artists, we bring together 35 of these works, many shown alongside new pieces created by the same artists today. Together, they reflect not only the breadth of creative practice across Croydon, but also how that work – and our borough itself – has evolved over time. 

From figurative painters and illustrators to abstract mixed-media artists and photographers, this exhibition is a celebration of Croydon’s creative community. (Full artist list below).

It’s also a thank you – to the artists who have contributed their work over the years, to the writers and collaborators who have shared their stories, and to everyone who has followed and supported the Croydonist along the way.

We’d love you to come and see the exhibition this May and celebrate ten years of Croydon creativity with us.

Because it turns out there’s been more than enough to write about.

*Concrete Creativity – ten years of Croydonist artists runs from Tuesday 5 – Friday 29 May 2026, at The Click Clock Art Gallery in the Clocktower Café, Croydon Clocktower. The gallery is open Monday to Saturday, 9am – 4pm, closed bank holiday Monday (25 May).

The exhibition features (in chronological order from the first to current social media artist): James Oliver, Lis Watkins, Matt Bannister, Adam Halliday, Kate Marsden, Bareface, Tina Crawford, Kay Lovesah, Dimitra Rizou, Ruth Joyce, Christopher Hope-Fitch, Ana Maria Lima Dimitrijevic, Skye Baker, Jason Chow, Miguel Sopena, Helena Vaughan, Anudarani, Cordelia Peacock, Hannah Kirkland, Beatrix Finch, Jonny Kemp, Melanie Russell, Lauren Pinnock, Divya Sharma, Becci Kenning, Zoe Parker, Mirri Rowland, Autumn Ng Fong Tiao, Thomas Oldfield, Erika Gomez, Ciara Flood, Georgina Nicolaou, Chantelle D’Souza, Diana Phiri-Witty and Emily Evans.

As a voluntary organisation, we are hugely grateful for the support of Croydon Business Improvement District (BID), Ace 360 Communication and 31% Wool in helping to make the exhibition possible.

Images courtesy of the artists (a glimpse of some of the Croydonist artist social media headers) – from top: header image – Kate Marsden, Lis Watkins, Diana Phiri-Witty; image grid 1 – Tina Crawford, Beatrix Finch, Jonny Kemp, Melanie Russell, Autumn Ng Fong Tiao, Thomas Oldfield; image grid 2 – Mirri Rowland, Miguel Sopena, Emily Evans, Dimitra Rizou, Kay Lovesah, Becci Kenning, Christopher Hope-Fitch; image grid 3 – Erika Gomez, Cordelia Peacock, Ana Maria Lima Dimitrijevic, Ciara Flood, Hannah Kirkland, Divya Sharma, Anudarani; image grid 4 – Helena Vaughan, Adam Halliday, Matt Bannister, Bareface, Zoe Parker, Ruth Joyce.

Posted by Julia