Spike Island

Eclectic artists come together in this contemporary temple to all things visual. Shunning the gloriously grungy Stokes Croft community, Spike Island offers a slick home to the arts at the southernmost section of Bristol’s historic docks. Visitors can still pay homage to the building’s original incarnation as Brook Bond’s tea-​packing factory by sipping a brew in the Spike Café. Free WiFi, and a glut a local magazines, help get those cerebral cogs spinning. Asserting its predominance within Bristol’s creative crowd, Spike Island hosts occasional Bristol-​Bath Jelly sessions that give like-​minded freelancers an inspiring place to work (
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As contemporary as you can be, Spike Island is a (quite randomly located) modern art powerhouse situated on the banks of the river Avon. The building hosts a mixture of gallery and studio space where residents can work. Entry to the public gallery is free of charge, and the exhibitions change regularly.
The warehouse-​style environment is similar to the Arnolfini, although there is something less mainstream about the atmosphere, it seems to attract only those most serious about their art.
The exhibitions and installations I viewed were limited but interesting. They used the space (large, white, airy) to their best advantage and I found myself dwelling on one in particular — a construction featuring multiple mirrors suspended in various patterns — long after I had left.

If you’re a fan of contemporary art and design, Spike Island by Bristol’s docks showcases changing exhibitions and installations in a spacious warehouse environment — and it’s all free.
Amongst Bristol’s ‘creatives’ this place is well-​known, but you’d be surprised how many other locals have never visited.
There’s a laid-​back café area at the front, the gallery a little further back, then upstairs there are units housing arts professionals, fostering a creative community within the centre.
The art works I’ve seen there on public display range from from weird animations and film strips to eerie installations, some of which have been fantastic and others slightly baffling. To engage both older and younger members of the family there’s a programme of activities and workshops. Many of the adult workshops take place at weekends, giving those who work full time the chance to try their hand at something creative.
If you’re going for a walk along the docks, it’s worth popping your head into Spike Island just to glance at what’s currently being exhibited — if you don’t like what you see it doesn’t really matter, as it won’t have cost you a penny to have a look.

I think Spike Island may need to work on its publicity because until I saw it in The Guardian’s Guide, I had never heard of it, despite living here for three years. I promptly dragged my husband along to see an installation. The gallery and art space is in a huge industrial looking warehouse on the south side of the river and makes a great starting point for a stroll along the docks (where there are dome fantastic little pubs, but more on that later.) We went into the little café at the front first to slake our thirsts with some coffee– it’s a lovely relaxed space where you could easily waste an afternoon chilling and reading the paper. Then we went on into the main gallery. A team of staff were busy setting up one installation so we weren’t able to view it but we sat in one of the other galleries watching a film piece which was easily one of the most pretentious things I had seen for several years. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be back. There’s a whole maze of offices upstairs where various art professionals work (up to 70 I believe) and there’s a real buzz about the place. They are always encouraging new and innovative artists to display their work and have hosted some critically acclaimed exhibitions. There is also an activity programme for families where parents and children can take part in various workshops from making animations to comics and the gallery reaches out to the community through various partnerships. It’s a venue Bristol should be proud of and should do more to promote. It’s also free. and what can be better than that?

Spike Island is a leading contemporary art and design space on the docks in Bristol and hosts a microcosm of artistic activity. They show frequent exhibitions, hold residencies and offer opportunities in research into contemporary art.
The building is huge, an old warehouse (you could almost draw similarities between here and the Tate). Spike Island is also home to the Aardman Animations team, creators of Creature Comforts and Wallace and Gromit.

An artificial island made as a result of the construction of Bristol’s floating harbour, Spike Island hosts a contemporary art centre of the same name. Don’t be put off by the slightly odd location — surrounded by warehouses and a marina, there’s as vibrant an art scene here as you’ll find over by the Watershed and Arnolfini.
For artists there are studios to hire and other resources. For the public there are regular exhibitions in the gallery here and workshops. The exhibitions are often by resident artists and a little more challenging than what you’ll find at the city art gallery. There are strong links with Bristol’s various communities, with exhibitions done in partnership with them. There’s a café on sight, and a good day out can be had strolling down from the city centre along the docks, taking in some art and finishing it off with a cup of tea.

A large warehouse space which has many functions for artists of Bristol.
Publicly there is a gallery on the ground floor which has regular exhibitions and a large space for scheduled arty activities with children. There is also a nice little café — open on Mondays when the galleries are closed — with some seats outside when it is nice weather (although there is a lot of traffic on the road outside spoiling the harbour-​side view).
If you become a member of the studios then you can use their good printmaking facilities (Spike Print Studio) and rent studio space. The community here is friendly and supportive.
If you just dabble in art then I can recommend their workshops — find details on this website instead of the main one
They have lino and etching classes for beginners or to brush up rusty skills. They are up to date with some fantastic processes. Classes may run over a weekend or one day a week for a season.

Spike Island is the biggest and best funded arts space in Bristol. It hosts major contemporary exhibitions, conferences, installations and screenings as well as artists spaces. The University of the West of England use part of the building for their fine art students. There is a lovely little café bar where you can have some food and drinks.