Emergency Exit Arts

Creating magical experiences in the places where you live, learn, work & play

Emergency Exit Arts (EEA) is one of Britain’s pioneering outdoor arts companies, creating magical experiences in the places where you live, learn, work and play. We reinvigorate communities, give people a voice and challenge the ordinary.

Founded in 1980, EEA began as an artists’ collective born out of a desire to radically transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. At a time of social and political change, we aspired to make a positive difference to people’s lives, particularly those who were discriminated against and those living in economically excluded communities across London and the UK. Now a registered charity and one of the Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisations, EEA has evolved into the reputable outdoor arts company it is today, still pioneering and still inspiring change through creativity.

We’ve been resident in Rothbury Hall in Greenwich, SE London, for over 30 years. It’s a building loaded with history and originally built for use by the community. We maintain this tradition and are proud to call it our home.

EEA are clear about what it is we want to achieve and how we are going to achieve it. Our vision is to inspire change through creativity. We will do this by:

• Enhancing places by making dynamic and surprising work in the public realm
• Enabling people to be creative and confident
• Astonishing audiences with moments of wonder

We have identified three Strategic Objectives to guide us over the next five years:

Be impactful: Emphasise socially relevant work that brings people together and helps improve lives.
Be resilient: Put in place the resources and systems that enable EEA and the people connected to us to continue to thrive, deliver efficiently and have minimal impact on the planet’s resources.
Be recognised: Continue to build EEA’s distinctiveness, profile and reputation.

We work with local authorities, festivals, event producers, communities, cultural organisations, and education and heritage sectors.

Some of our most recent work includes large-scale light events, such as Light The Way in Thamesmead and Medway Light Nights in Rochester. We are currently working with Mandinga Arts to create a float for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant.