On Tuesday we marked our 10th birthday with the launch of our exhibition ‘Concrete Creativity – ten years of Croydonist artists’ where we had a small gathering with the exhibiting artists and friends to celebrate.

Over the last decade there’s been so much quirky culture and creativity to highlight… We’ve enjoyed films on a rooftop cinema, wiggled our toes in the sand on a rooftop beach, had our first drink at BoxPark, enjoyed numerous festivals including PrideFest, Croydonites, Tempting Failure, Summer of Love, Croydon Lit Fest and of course our very own Cro Cro Land. We’ve become more cultured through history lectures, celebrity Q&As, literary gatherings, and architectural walks. We’ve visited a mushroom farm, a saffron farm, a windmill and an airport. We’ve been dazzled by the wonderful street art, and been on every sort of trail, from local art and national art, to music and monsters! We’ve seen a pop-up Banksy shop on Crown Hill, a ‘Black Mirror’ 1980s high street on St George’s Walk, and (one of my personal favourites) Hetain Patel’s hobby heaven in the old Milan Bar on the High Street. And I haven’t even got around to mentioning the exhibitions, the theatre, the poetry, and the London Borough of Culture celebrations…

Anyway I could obviously enthuse for another 10 years on Croydon’s culture, so enough of my musings (for now) and instead let’s hear from some other voices.

We asked some of our exhibiting artists about the changes they’ve seen in Croydon’s creative scene over the last decade as well as what our creative community means to them now.

Anudarani, Croydonist artist: 5 February – 4 April 2022

‘Over the last decade, there has been a significant shift toward inclusivity, with a wider variety of opportunities now available to artists from all disciplines. The borough has transformed into a more robust creative hub, intentionally creating space for diverse voices that may have been overlooked in the past.’

‘To me, the community represents the power of collaboration and collective resilience. It’s about having each other’s backs and operating with the belief that there is enough room for everyone to succeed and find their place in the world.’

Ciara Flood, Croydonist artist: 5 August – 4 October 2025

‘Croydon has a creative heart filled with many talented and inspiring artists.’

Emily Evans, Croydonist artist: 5 April – 4 June 2026

‘As a newcomer to Croydon it’s been so nice seeing all the creative talent in Croydon and to see how it’s being celebrated by the Croydonist through this exhibition! It also feels like there is always something going on, workshops, open studios, photo walks, talks… It’s great!’

Kay Lovesah, Croydonist artist: 5 June – 4 August 2018

‘The constant strength of the Grass Roots Art Scene and support from the Croydonist, East Croydon Cool, and having the legendary BRIT School on our doorstep, keeps the borough’s local art scene’s pulse racing.’

Tina Crawford, Croydonist artist: 5 April – 5 June 2018

‘I’ve been constantly impressed with the Croydon creative community from crafts groups to contemporary art spaces like Conditions and Turf. Croydon is huge but what I love about the community is it feels village-like – we’re all connected and you will bump into someone you know if you pop out! Whether you work or live in the borough, I think there’s a certain amount of protection we give it and I definitely can say as someone born and bred and still living here, it influences my work!’

‘And so many places worth visiting – ASC, Croydon Art Space, Turf, Conditions, SoCro art fairs – whatever sort of creativity you’re into, Croydon has something!’

Zoe Parker, Croydonist artist: 5 June – 4 August 2024

‘I think that what has remained a constant strength is that so many of us are still creating art today, 10 years since the first issue of Croydonist. It’s great that we are all still aware of each other’s work and continue to support each other.’

Thank you to Anudarani, Ciara, Emily, Kay, Tina and Zoe for putting it more eloquently than me.

‘Concrete Creativity – ten years of Croydonist artists’ runs until 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 our first to our 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, as well as to Printalicious Creative Solutions for their support with exhibition printing. A particular thank you to Simon Shaw of Click Clock Art Gallery for his care and attention of the exhibition installation.

Photos of our exhibition launch by Keira Anee.

Posted by Julia