In 1938, art critic Cyril Connolly said “there is no more sombre enemy to good art than the pram in the hall.” It almost seems as if, even now, the art world locks artist-parents out, prevented from making any work at all in case it’s “bad”.  In 2022, art critic and curator Hettie Judah publis hed a book called How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents…) . This was a watershed moment. Judah explained plainly and clearly that the art world is purposefully organised to exclude those...

I’m Ellie Barrett, a sculptor, researcher, writer, artist-mother and studio holder at Good Things. In 2025, I led a house commissioned project, running a playgroup for under 5s and their parents or carers called “Everyday Play”.  When I had my daughter Nora in 2021, I very quickly realised I wouldn’t be able to make art in the way I’d been used to my whole career as an artist. 8 hour uninterrupted days in the studio were suddenly impossible. I needed to find a new way of making work which...

There’s been so much happening at Good Things Collective in 2025… you might already know about our big plans to launch a new community hub and cafe, which we’ve been fundraising for over the last few months. But you might not know that we’ve also been working hard on our “House of Cooperation” programme, which is funded by Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants.  We’re always thinking about how we balance individual artist practice with collective projects and development, and...