Claire Mander and her supporters are campaigning to prevent the Artist’s Garden from being converted into a VIP event space [1].
The effort aims to protect one of the few dedicated spaces for women's art in a city where monuments are overwhelmingly male. The project, located on the roof terrace of Temple underground station in London, serves as a corrective to the historical imbalance of gender representation in public sculpture [1].
Mander started the project 10 years ago to create a unique environment for women artists [1]. The current threat of redevelopment risks erasing this curated collection in favor of commercial interests. The space is currently described as the world's only women's sculpture park [1].
Supporters argue that the transition would strip the site of its cultural significance. The garden is intended to be a permanent sanctuary for art rather than a temporary venue for corporate gatherings, a shift that Mander believes would diminish the site's purpose [1].
“It could be turned into a generic space for VIP events and cocktails,” Mander said [1].
The campaign has called for urgent action to ensure the garden remains a public-facing artistic resource. Mander believes the stakes for women's visibility in the arts are high.
“We have to become warriors,” Mander said [1].
““We have to become warriors””
This conflict highlights the ongoing tension between urban commercialization and the preservation of gender-specific cultural heritage. By fighting to keep the Artist’s Garden from becoming a private event venue, the campaign is asserting that the visibility of women in public art is a public good that outweighs the potential revenue of VIP corporate hosting.
