About Art and Cities

Art and Cities is a London-based group of artists an those interested in art of all types about the city.

Before moving to 'Meetup' it ran for 12 years as the 'London Arts Café', a charity which organised events in London for members and the general public, campaigning to promote better understanding of cities through art and the role of art and artists in urban renewal.


London Arts Café members during a studio visit to painter Timothy Hyman in 2002

Through exhibitions, studio visits, guided walks, talks, workshops, commissions and a printed magazine LAC provided a forum for viewing, expressing and discovering all forms of contemporary urban art. It believed in "art for urban insights", and that art is a uniquely powerful tool for stimulating debate about cities.


The opening of the first London Arts Café members exhibition, 'Café Life' in a Hoxton café gallery

Art and Cities hopes to continue this debate and programme of events but in a less formal, even more interactive way, but one involving less official organisation (and less expense, without a print magazine - and further commissions seem unlikely.)


Calligraphy by Akemi for the 2000 show Zen and the Art of Cities at the Rivington Gallery, Hoxton