Art graduates awarded first ever studio scholarships by V22

Four Goldsmiths graduates are the recipients of the inaugural V22 x Goldsmiths Studio Scholarship Programme, granting them six months of free studio space.

Juan Alejandre, Nicole Di, Tegan Dore and Sofía Serpa Arango are the first ever recipients of the scholarships, which aim to support recent graduates facing financial barriers as they establish their creative practice.  

Studio Scholarship Programme 

Finding a suitable place to work is a key need for any artist, though it can often be challenging and expensive. The scholarships aim to provide space, time and a supportive environment at the critical point of transition between graduating and embarking on professional practice.  

Each recipient receives six months of free studio space from V22, an artist-led organisation specialising in creating and protecting affordable spaces for artists. V22 currently operates a network of over 50 studios across London, including studios in Catford, Hither Green, Forest Hill, Orpington, Stoke Newington, Dalston and Hackney Wick, with the scholarship-holders based at locations in Hither Green and Hackney Wick.

V22 chose to partner with Goldsmiths due to its longstanding reputation of nurturing some of the most influential artists working in London today, and because its focus on creative education aligns with V22’s role in providing affordable space for artists to develop their practice beyond graduation. 

Eran Zucker, CEO of V22, said, “We had initially planned to support two graduates, but the strength of the applications and the realities of trying to begin an art practice in London made it very hard to stop there. At V22 we believe that affordable studio space is one of the most practical ways we can support artists and it sits at the heart of our vision of ‘keeping creativity central’.” 

Maksim Petkov

Space to create  

For BA Fine Art graduate Tegan Dore (Teg), who is a Junior Fellow at Goldsmiths working on the Schools Studio programme, studio space allows her to continue working with large-scale pieces, which simply wouldn’t be possible in a domestic setting.  

Her practice centres around working with synthetic, discarded materials found in London through a process she calls urban foraging. These materials represent the wider fast fashion system, and associated harms. Exploring the responsibility that comes with possessing these non-biodegradable fibres, which you can’t simply discard without consequences for the environment, she is currently deconstructing the pieces she made for her Degree Show and discovering how to repurpose the materials.   

Speaking about what the scholarship means for her, Teg explained, “Now, without the deadline of the final Degree Show, I have the time and space to let the work breathe. I’m collapsing one thing to turn it into something else. Having this studio space means I can continue the momentum of my practice without having to shift to making smaller work. I am even hanging work from the ceiling, which I couldn’t do at home.” 

Sofía Serpa Arango (BA Fine Art) is one of three scholarship recipients sharing a large studio space. Her interdisciplinary practice explores the potential for narrative and world-building across painting and sculpture with special attention to woodworking. For previous work, she has drawn inspiration from Latin American and Germanic folk traditions to explore nostalgia and heritage through autofiction.  

The studio space allows Sofía to continue to work on large-scale paintings, which she acknowledges is a practice that can be difficult to sustain in London, where space is at a premium. Trying to continue her practice without a dedicated space over the summer was challenging, and funding her own space would have meant taking on more work, restricting time to be spent developing her own practice. 

Sofía explained, “When you first graduate, it feels like everyone just sees you as potential, but it’s up to you to build a sustainable practice and long-term career for yourself. The scholarship has given me both the resources and the validation to continue to treat my practice with seriousness and respect.”  

Juan Alejandre (BA Fine Art and History of Art) was one of the winners of the Vice-Chancellor's Art Prize in 2025. Grief is a central theme in Juan’s work, using bureaucracy to challenge institutions which process private emotions. Juan has worked with family memorabilia and bureaucratic objects such as passports and driving licenses. 

Juan said, “A big space allows you to be working on a hundred different things at the same time which I’d say is the way I best approach what I do. And definitely scale, scale, scale."

Nicole Di (BA Fine Art) creates paintings, prints and drawings which explore the Daoist notion of change, turbulence and the infinite, particularly points where nature’s systems and rules break down into speculation.  

For Nicole, the scholarship presents an opportunity to break out of the habits and patterns she set during her undergraduate studies, and find out where it takes her practice. “The scholarship has taken the pressure off being in the studio by giving me more time and space. My practice feels more open to vulnerability and failure, because of the breathing space to play and experiment more,” Nicole said.  

Looking to the future, Nicole hopes to discover more about what painting means to her and would love to work with dance productions. She added, “A fantasy of mine is to design the safety curtain for the Vienna State Opera House.” 

Photographs by Maksim Petkov