Living Archive Project

Members of the newly formed Youth Collective and volunteers from the local area are working with us to sustain the future of our archive. This extensive archive contains original catalogues, artists’ books, posters, flyers, manuscripts and critical texts dating from 1965 to the present day. The volunteers are helping us improve its care and management to support better interpretation, and to make this important material available to others through our new Online Archive.

You can see items from our archive that have been selected by our project volunteers and members of our Youth Collective in a vitrine display in our Bookshop. The display changes on a regular basis and looks at key themes, ideas, people and projects from the past 50 years of the Centre’s history.

Opening in October 1965, Camden Arts Centre (known as Hampstead Arts Centre until 1967) was created to provide classes led by local artists in painting, life drawing, pottery, printing and basic design. The exhibitions programme began on the 26 February 1966 with The Artist at Work. The exhibition preview coincided with the official opening of the building, which had previously housed the local library, as a centre for visual arts and education. We have been marking this significant anniversary with a year-long programme of public activities that has included a major lecture series and a creative education programme for young people.

Take a look at our Online Archive

Supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, The London Community Foundation and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts, City Bridge Trust, The Tomart Foundation, The John S Cohen Foundation and The Baily Thomas Charitable Trust