theCoLAB Ltd

What theCoLAB Ltd does

theCoLAB Ltd is a UK-registered charity (no. 1209046) and Company Limited by Guarantee (no. 15398352), founded in 2011, that operates as a collaborative curatorial laboratory commissioning site-specific contemporary public art with a particular focus on women artists, who it identifies as seriously under-represented in outdoor sculpture. Its core programmes are The Artist's Garden — the world's first free, public sculpture garden dedicated to women artists, opened in 2021 on the 1,400 sqm roof terrace above Temple Underground station in London; the BODY and PLACE drawing residencies, run annually since 2019 and extending to a planned 2027 cohort; and the Morecambe Bay Triennial coastal commissioning programme, co-developed with Deco Publique since 2017 across coastal Lancashire and adjacent regions. Supporting programmes include the Sculpture Shock award (2013–2016), the SKULPTUR Nordic sculpture exhibition (17 artists across 3 London sites), Women to Watch (collaboration with the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC), the Mother Art Prize (co-curated with Procreate Project), and publications such as Radical Pairings. Governance is provided by a Board of Trustees (Beth Colocci, Dr Alexandra Hodby, Aryana Khan, Claire Mander) with operational leadership from Founder-Director Claire Mander (Courtauld MA Distinction; former Deputy Director, Royal British Society of Sculptors) and Deputy Director Alice Walters.

The organisation has no proprietary software, API, or AI/ML stack; its "platform" is its curatorial practice and partner network. Revenue is sourced from four streams: (i) art sales via the theCOLAB online shop, processed through wholly-owned affiliate theCOLAB Temple Ltd, with proceeds split equally between the artist and theCOLAB Charity (so sales generate mission-aligned trading income rather than retained commercial margin); (ii) donations and crowd-funded fundraising via Stripe and Crowdfunder; (iii) institutional grant funding from public bodies (Westminster City Council, Arts Council England, Lancaster City Council, South Lakeland District Council) and philanthropists (Nina and Samuel Wisnia as founding patrons since 2011; Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation; Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation); and (iv) limited commercial income from merchandise (£25 hats) and publications (e.g., Radical Pairings at £15). Customer pricing is set per unit on artworks (£190–£495 per limited-edition print), while public access to The Artist's Garden is free.

Distribution is hybrid: a free physical flagship (Temple roof terrace), regional physical sites (Morecambe Bay, including the 2026 Lakwena "HA HA HAPPY" commission at Happy Mount Park), and a global e-commerce storefront shipping internationally via DPD Next Day. Marketing relies on organic social (Instagram @thecolab.art), a newsletter, earned press coverage (BBC Radio Four's Front Row), and direct advocacy (Change.org petition). Headcount data is not disclosed; only two management-team members are documented. The organisation is actively operating, with forward programmes committed through 2027.

Name

theCoLAB Ltd

Legal name

theCoLAB Ltd

Website

https://thecolab.art

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

theCoLAB Ltd is a UK-registered charity (no. 1209046), founded in 2011, that commissions site-specific contemporary public art focused on women artists, operating London's only sculpture garden dedicated to women artists and the Morecambe Bay coastal commissioning programme.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Art and Cultural Programming

NAICS

Museums (712110)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHAJADAH

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit)

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Museums, Galleries & Cultural Institutions

Keywords

• Public art commissioning
• Sculpture garden curation
• Artist residency programmes
• Contemporary arts charity
• Site-specific installations

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Art Sales: Sale of artworks through theCOLAB shop. All artworks purchased through the shop are processed through affiliated company theCOLAB Temple Ltd. Proceeds from sales are donated equally to the artist and theCOLAB Charity.
2. Donations and Fundraising: theCOLAB is a not-for-profit registered charity that relies on donations and fundraising campaigns to support its charitable work. The organization runs fighting fund campaigns and accepts donations through Stripe.
3. Grant Funding: theCOLAB receives funding from public, private and philanthropic sources including Westminster City Council, Arts Council England, Lancaster City Council, South Lakeland District Council, and various foundations.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

theCOLAB is a registered charity that commissions and curates site-specific contemporary art in unusual public spaces, most notably running The Artist's Garden, the world's first free sculpture garden dedicated to women artists on the roof of Temple Tube station in London. It delivers artist residencies, coastal commissions, exhibitions, awards and publications for women artists, and sells limited-edition prints, publications and merchandise through an affiliated online shop whose proceeds are split with the artist.

Product overview

theCOLAB is a registered charity operating as a collaborative laboratory for contemporary art. The organization functions as a unified arts practice offering multiple interconnected programmes rather than a modular platform. Core offerings include The Artist's Garden (London's only sculpture garden dedicated to women artists), BODY and PLACE drawing residencies, and the Morecambe Bay Triennial coastal commissioning programme. These are complemented by the Sculpture Shock award, exhibition series like SKULPTUR and Women to Watch, commission programmes including Women Make Sculpture, and an online store selling artworks and publications. The organization focuses on creating opportunities for artists to realize ambitious, site-specific work beyond traditional gallery spaces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Artist's Garden: The world's first sculpture garden dedicated to the work of women artists, located on the roof terrace above Temple tube station in London. Opened in 2021.
• BODY and PLACE
• Morecambe Bay Coastal Commissioning Programme
• Sculpture Shock

Products and services

• The Artist's Garden The world's first sculpture garden dedicated to women artists, located on the 1,400sqm roof terrace above Temple Tube station in London and offering free public access to rotating site-specific commissions.
• BODY and PLACE Drawing Residencies An ongoing series of professional drawing residencies placing artists in unconventional contexts including historic collections of drawings, private estates and contemporary architecture sites.
• Morecambe Bay Triennial / Coastal Commissions A residency-led and place-specific coastal commissioning programme developed in partnership with Deco Publique, producing participatory projects, public installations and performance along the Morecambe Bay coastline.
• theCOLAB Online Shop

Quantifiable outcome

• World's first sculpture garden dedicated to women artists
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Westminster City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMain partner for the Artist's Garden. The Artist's Garden is realised in partnership with and supported by Westminster City Council since 2021. Council provides ongoing support and has committed to Climate Emergency Action Plan.
• Deco PubliquecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Morecambe Bay Coastal Commissioning Programme since 2017. Co-curating and co-producing coastal commissions and the Morecambe Bay Triennial.
• Morecambe Bay PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnertheCOLAB served as Artistic Advisor for Headlands to Headspace landscape art commissions (2018-2019), a Heritage Lottery Landscape Partnership Scheme.
• Lancaster Institute for Contemporary ArtssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for collaborative research project with Elizabeth Clough's HARBINGER commission.
• Royal British Society of SculptorssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistorical collaboration on SKULPTUR exhibition and Sculpture Shock program.
• Basketball EnglandsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for HA HA HAPPY project providing technical guidance and funding for basketball equipment upgrades.
• 180 StudiossupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-commission with 180 Studios for Lakwena's 'Back in the Air: a Meditation on Higher Ground'.
• National Festival of MakingsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to publish 'Radical Pairings' documentating Art in Manufacturing residency programme. Claire Mander sits on the Board of National Festival of Making.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Tate (Tate Modern / Tate Britain): UK national portfolio of major public art institutions, including commissioning and exhibiting contemporary work. Comparable as a large-scale, publicly-funded contemporary art body with national reach, though far broader in scope than theCOLAB's niche.
• Whitechapel Gallery: Major London contemporary art gallery presenting historically significant exhibitions and commissions. Comparable as an established contemporary art institution commissioning ambitious work, though with a traditional gallery model rather than site-specific outdoor focus.
• Serpentine Galleries: Major London contemporary art institution commissioning site-specific pavilions and exhibitions. Comparable as a broader, established contemporary-art commissioning body, though operating at significantly larger scale and with a permanent gallery footprint.

Direct peers

• Artangel: UK arts charity commissioning ambitious, site-specific contemporary art projects in unusual locations across the UK. Highly comparable to theCOLAB's model of commissioning artists to realize work beyond traditional gallery spaces.
• Yorkshire Sculpture Park: UK-based open-air sculpture park and gallery offering free public access to contemporary sculpture across an expansive landscape. Directly comparable to theCOLAB's Artist's Garden as a free, outdoor, contemporary-sculpture-focused cultural institution.
• National Museum of Women in the Arts: Direct collaboration partner on theCOLAB's 'Women to Watch' series; the world's only major museum solely dedicated to celebrating women's contributions to the arts, making it a thematic and mission-aligned peer.
• Create London: London-based arts charity commissioning public realm contemporary art projects with social objectives. Comparable as a UK public-art commissioning charity working with artists in non-gallery urban contexts.
• Liverpool Biennial: UK recurring contemporary art commissioning festival producing new site-specific work across a city. Comparable in scale and ambition to theCOLAB's triennial-style programming model.
• Folkestone Triennial (Creative Folkestone): UK triennial commissioning site-specific public art across Folkestone; directly analogous to theCOLAB's Morecambe Bay Triennial as a place-specific, recurring public art commissioning programme.
• Deco Publique: Co-producer of the Morecambe Bay Coastal Commissioning Programme with theCOLAB since 2017; comparable as a UK public art commissioning body curating coastal and place-based installations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/thecolab.art
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thecolab-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about theCoLAB Ltd