Elysium Gallery
Nominated for Culture award
Jonathan Powell and Daniel Staveley collectively run Elysium Gallery and Studios in Swansea. Founded in 2007, Elysium was created to support and promote the arts in Swansea and beyond with an emphasis on collaboration and community.
Elysium Gallery has inhabited many buildings around Swansea City Centre over its 16-year history. It is currently based in a former nightclub located on Swansea High Street and is a central part of the arts infrastructure and regeneration of an economically deprived area of the city.
Jonathan as artistic visionary responsible for the programming of the gallery, partnerships with community groups and co-ordinating learning activities, whilst Daniel runs the artistic studio complex which comprises of over 90 studios across 4 sites in the city centre looking after over 100 artists.
The Gallery and Studios support a thriving ecology of artists at all levels of their careers, from graduates to internationally renowned practitioners.
Throughout the years Elysium has become a vital component of the Swansea and Wales cultural scene with its dynamic programme of community and cultural events and activities.
The galleries strong community engagement work embraces a diverse range of grassroots organisations, as well as instigating ambitious international projects such as the BEEP painting Biennale which attracts thousands of visitors to Swansea every 2 years.
Elysium is an artist led organisation and has earned a reputation for supporting emerging visual artists, musicians, and performers from a very diverse range of backgrounds, promoting Swansea and Wales as a hot bed of exciting artistic talent.
Despite the obstacles Elysium continues to thrive and grow. This is largely down to the commitment, hard work and vision of Jonathan, Daniel and the Welsh arts scene they support.