Flax Art Studios

Flax Art Studios Flax Art Studios supports and promotes emerging and established contemporary visual artists from Belfast and beyond, through studio provision.

Flax Art Studios has a track record of 33 years of working at the cutting edge of contemporary art to significantly contribute to the regions visual art practice through studio provision; acting as a hub for professional development, international networking opportunities; and fostering greater understanding through outreach and engagement activity. Flax Art Studios was founded in 1989 by a group

of recent graduates seeking space to make large-scale sculpture and installation artworks. Space was eventually found in Edenderry Industrial Estate, an old linen mill building situated on the Crumlin Road in North Belfast. As the organisation developed the studios received funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council which allowed the organisation to continue a sustained growth by allowing artists to develop their practice and hold numerous exhibitions. In June 2003 the building in which the studios where housed was destroyed by fire. Fortunately, this disaster, which completely destroyed the entire organisation’s contents, including all facilities and artwork, was not the end for the organisation, rather it was taken as an opportunity to take stock and move on and develop further. In 2004 Flaxart moved into new premises on Corporation Street in Belfast City Centre. Most of the original Flax Artists took spaces along with some new additions. An area of 1,320 square metres provides ample room to house an industrial scale workshop, 7 large studio spaces, 11 smaller studio spaces, an international residency space and a communal fabrication area. A large mezzanine area accommodates the organisation’s office and IT facilities. Flax Art Studios moved to Havelock House in 2018 and is now based across 3 locations: Havelock House, 7 North Street and 31-35 High Street continues provide a portfolio of subsidised studio provision for the needs of emerging, mid-career and established artists, reaching over 100 artists. Particularly those working with sculpture, installation and new/time based media. Flax provides long term studio space for at least 70 artists, at least 1 international resident, 1 film maker in residence and 1 curator in residence. We will also provide at least 6 production residencies, we also open our workshop facility to external sculptural practitioners through our open workshop programme and have 26 workshop members.

Save The Date Magnetic 5 Residencies applications open on Aril 7th Magnetic is a Franco-UK initiative that brings togeth...
19/03/2026

Save The Date

Magnetic 5 Residencies applications open on Aril 7th

Magnetic is a Franco-UK initiative that brings together ten institutions in a program of artist residencies between France and the UK.

Artists from one of the five regions in France are invited to apply for the residency in the associated UK nation, and artists from each UK nation are invited to apply for the residency in the associated French region.

Magnetic 5 offers 2 to 3-months residencies tailored-made in discussion with the host organization, a monthly stipend of £2,100 / 2 500 €, individual accommodation and workspace, curatorial mentoring and international networking.

The call for applications will be open from April 7 to June 2, 2026, with residencies starting in November 2026.

Applications can be made via the Fluxus Art Projects website, where you'll find the schedule, selection criteria and access information.

Magnetic is supported by the French Institute in the UK, French Institute, French Ministry of Culture, French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Wales/Wales Arts International, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the British Council.

Magnetic is a joint Franco-British initiative involving artist residency exchanges between one French region and one UK nation. Fluxus Art Projects and Magnetic residencies are supported by



is grateful to be supported by Department for Communities

20/02/2026

The centre will have Northern Ireland’s first community-based artist-in-residence

20/02/2026
Lit from within, the moth in Laura Conlon’s ‘In-Between’ is a playful metaphor on the folktales of moths around a light,...
05/11/2025

Lit from within, the moth in Laura Conlon’s ‘In-Between’ is a playful metaphor on the folktales of moths around a light, as a message or warning of death. The in-between recalls the liminality these creatures occupy in Irish folklore, a threshold where they are neither here nor there.

Conlon’s practice is underpinned by ideas surrounding grief, ritual, landscape and Irish folklore. ‘In-Between’ is part of a body of work that began during her filmmaker residency at Flax Art Studios, where her research included her film ‘Dear Eibhlín’.

Laura Conlon has a BFA from Ulster University and an MA in Film from Queens University Belfast. She was awarded winner of the Belfast Film Festival's short film collection and best experimental short at the Bloomsday Film Festival, Dublin.



‘In-Between’ is on view 24 hours a day at 29 Bedford Street, Belfast, BT2 7EJ.

is grateful to be supported by Department for Communities

Opening of Threshold Gallery presents Gary Shaw ‘Gyres’ is postponed, with apologies.Watch this space for news of new da...
04/11/2025

Opening of Threshold Gallery presents Gary Shaw ‘Gyres’ is postponed, with apologies.

Watch this space for news of new dates for the exhibition.

Opening next week, Threshold Gallery presents Gary Shaw ‘Gyres’Gary Shaw’s large watercolours are composed of thousands ...
31/10/2025

Opening next week, Threshold Gallery presents Gary Shaw ‘Gyres’

Gary Shaw’s large watercolours are composed of thousands of individual brushstrokes – small, repeated hand gestures that build a quiet sense of order.

Though hand-painted and inexact – slightly uneven, fading and darkening as they turn – the rhythm of their movement is calm. The repetition recentres the artist and draws the viewer in and out of focus, eyes falling into the mesh of marks, then pulling back to take in the whole.

Opening - Late Night Art Belfast, 6 November, 6pm–8pm

Gary Shaw is a visual artist, born in England, raised in Australia and now working out of Flax Art Studios in Belfast. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) from the South Australian School of Art and an MFA from Belfast School of Art. His work has been shown in the US, Canada, China, Indonesia, Australia, Germany, Spain and the UK. In Northern Ireland, he has had numerous exhibitions including at PS2, Fenderesky Gallery and Queens University.



Exhibition dates - 6 November until 19 December 2025
5 North Street
BT1 1NA

is grateful to be supported by Department for Communities

Image: ‘Lady Jane’ (detail) 2025, watercolour on paper, 150 x 150cm

Magnetic 4 Dunkirk – Belfast-based artist Dorothy HunterAs part of Flax's Magnetic partnership, an artist from Hauts-de-...
30/10/2025

Magnetic 4 Dunkirk – Belfast-based artist Dorothy Hunter

As part of Flax's Magnetic partnership, an artist from Hauts-de-France comes to Belfast, and an artist from Northern Ireland goes to Dunkirk.

So, while we will welcome .lelouche to Flax Art Studios, congratulations to Dorothy Hunter, the Northern Ireland recipient of the Magnetic 4 residency.

During her residency, Hunter will work with the intentional shaping of the natural landscape around Dunkerque by its industry, the Hems Saint-Pol wetlands, and the preserved dune barrier of the restored shoreline, exploring these sculpted sites and the agency of land, materials and ecosystems

Dorothy Hunter (b. Magherafelt) is a Belfast-based artist. She works across disciplines with her research-led practice. She is particularly interested in sites where understandings of time and ownership clash in little-seen or understood places.

Magnetic is a joint Franco-British initiative involving artist residency exchanges between one French region and one UK nation. Dunkirk (Hauts-de-France) x Belfast (Northern Ireland) are partnered for the Magnetic residency exchange.

Fluxus Art Projects and Magnetic residencies are supported by



is grateful to be supported by Department for Communities

Image 1 - unknown bounty (2024), installation image, CCA Derry-Londonderry by Paola Bernardelli
Image 2 - courtesy of Arts Council of Northern Ireland

Introducing Marie Lelouche – Flax’s next international resident artistFlax is delighted to introduce our Magnetic 4 inte...
29/10/2025

Introducing Marie Lelouche – Flax’s next international resident artist

Flax is delighted to introduce our Magnetic 4 international resident Marie Lelouche, an artist based in Hauts-de-France, France.

Lelouche’s practice explores intersections of space, unexpected perceptions, and silent memories. Her work, which layers forms, sounds, and memories in unstable spaces where technique disrupts perception and generates friction.

During her Flax Art Studios residency, the artist aims to develop a new project around the former Sirocco Works, once emblematic of Belfast’s industrial engineering. The residency will begin in January 2026.

Marie Lelouche studied at Ensba Paris, earned a Master’s from the Sorbonne, and completed advanced studies at Le Fresnoy, receiving a PhD in research/creation with UQAM. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions, including Galerie Mazzoli (Berlin), Galerie Alberta Pane (Venice), MMCA (South Korea), CACIN - Les Tanneries (France), and Jeu de Paume (Paris), as well as at international fairs.

Lelouche has been represented for several years by Galerie Alberta Pane (Paris/Venice)
lelouche

Magnetic is a joint Franco-British initiative involving artist residency exchanges between one French region and one UK nation. Fluxus Art Projects and Magnetic residencies are supported by



is grateful to be supported by Department for Communities

Image 1: 'Out of Spaces', Les Tanneries, 2021, photo Aurelien Mole courtesy Alberta Pane copyright Marie Lelouche

Closing soonThis is the last week to see Jennifer Alexander’s ‘Glimpses’ at Threshold Gallery. The exhibition closes thi...
27/10/2025

Closing soon

This is the last week to see Jennifer Alexander’s ‘Glimpses’ at Threshold Gallery. The exhibition closes this Friday 31 October 2025.

A series of 56 acrylic sketches on linen, the works explore those in-between moments when the familiar tips into the unknown, and when change becomes a doorway to something new.
Starting with Aristotle’s imagining the cosmos as 56 celestial spheres, Alexander zooms in, presenting a constellation of moments that ask who we are, where we belong and how we find meaning.

Alexander is a visual artist and curator from Scotland, currently based in Northern Ireland. Her practice investigates the interplay between perception and stratification. She is a member of Flax Art Studios and graduated from Ulster University’s MFA Fine Art programme in 2020.



Open Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday
10am–4pm
5 North Street
BT1 1NA

is grateful to be supported by

Closing soonThis is the last week to see Jennifer Alexander’s ‘Glimpses’ at Threshold Gallery. The exhibition closes thi...
26/10/2025

Closing soon

This is the last week to see Jennifer Alexander’s ‘Glimpses’ at Threshold Gallery. The exhibition closes this Friday 31 October 2025.

A series of 56 acrylic sketches on linen, the works explore those in-between moments when the familiar tips into the unknown, and when change becomes a doorway to something new. Starting with Aristotle’s imagining the cosmos as 56 celestial spheres, Alexander zooms in, presenting a constellation of moments that ask who we are, where we belong and how we find meaning.

Alexander is a visual artist and curator from Scotland, currently based in Northern Ireland. Her practice investigates the interplay between perception and stratification. She is a member of Flax Art Studios and graduated from Ulster University’s MFA Fine Art programme in 2020.



Open Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday
10am–4pm
5 North Street
BT1 1NA

is grateful to be supported by

Address

Waterside Tower, Clarendon Dock, 31 Clarendon Road
Belfast
BT1 3BG

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+442890325627

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