Nestled in the leafy suburb of Narrabundah hides a blank canvas waiting for creatives to make their own. Soaking in natural light, Sanctuary is a bright and welcoming creative studio and event-hire space.

Lined with bright windows and sheer curtains, wood floors and clean white walls, the space allows for transformation to suit whatever event is being held. From weddings to baby showers, photoshoots, regular faith community meets and the weekly yoga class, the space is for the community.

“I’d love for Sanctuary to be a hub for communities to form deeper connections with each other… I’d like it to be a third space for someone that is not home, it’s not work but a third space where someone could always feel welcome and at home doing something they enjoy,” says Lauren Harkness, founder and director of Rise Events and Sanctuary.

Already a desired location for photographers of our region with furniture and props in abundance, Sanctuary wants to invite locals to connect and create together in their Canberra Creatives open studio. 

“What I love about the idea, is it’s open to any medium, even if you’re not an artist. We’ve had solo businesswomen who felt the isolation and wanted to be part of a community,” says Joanne Grittoes, photographer and studio manager of Sanctuary.

Collaborating or just working in the space have been writers, make-up artists, photographers and graphic designers. The creatives will be able to seek advice, bounce ideas off each other, work in a space where they aren’t alone or drop in for a cuppa.

“Isolation and loneliness are quite real for anyone, and for those who work for themselves, they can go a really long time without communicating with someone. What we are hoping to achieve, opening up our studio for you to come and work in here as a coworking and a play space but it is about connecting with each other,” says Lauren.

“I’ll be painting away in my studio for weeks on end and not really having any feedback and I think that’s the same for many creatives. It’d be nice to have like-minded people to bounce ideas off and just to have those conversations around what we’re each working on would be very helpful and build that community,” says Tania Vrancic, ceramic artist and painter and artist-in-residence.

While some people will be happy to continue with their work, others might want some guidance or a more interactive setting, these will be on offer too. Each week, Joanne will host a technical advice session for those interested in photography, choosing a different weekly theme attendees will learn the ins and outs of how to make the most of their camera.

“We heard that people want a space to create, rather than just meeting up at a café with laptops and doing photo editing, it would be great to have a studio we could do content creation in. It is more affordable than hiring the studio just for yourself, you can come in and co-work, get ideas off each other,” says Joanne.

For a gold coin donation for paper and paint materials, attendees will be able to join Tania in a paint space. Tania has a plan to not mark any of the stunning interiors, she will roll out a large flooring mat, place plastic on the bottom half of the wall and get some tablecloths, so artists can let their creativity flow without the fear of causing permanent mess.

“The light is gorgeous, I love the atmosphere of the building. The idea of the Tuesday Open Studio is that there’ll be some tables set up, there’ll be materials; paper, paints and drawing materials to share. People can come in and work on some projects and maybe painting big paintings or maybe just doing small things but to build that sense of community,” says Tania.

Also in the works is a drop-in hub for local neighbours to get to know each other a bit better, Lauren says isolation and loneliness are a very real part of life and she wants to do everything she can to combat them. With a gold coin donation, drop-ins will be able to grab a tea (there are more than 30 varieties at Sanctuary) and hopefully make some new friends.

“If I can create small or large events for people to simply feel safe and come along to and feel a sense of belonging, that’s a joy and important to me,” smiles Lauren.

Once a place of worship, Lauren is hoping that it will be a place for community and connection in its new life. The space was previously St Aidan’s Uniting Church, as the number of the congregation declined, they joined Wesley’s Uniting Church in Forrest, leaving the space vacant.

Moving to Canberra in 2019, Lauren had been running a small business community for women in Sydney and dreamt of starting something similar here.

“That grew and after listening to the needs of what these small businesswomen were seeking, there was this common theme of we need a space, that is affordable and beautiful, with plenty of natural light that was available for our workshops, photoshoots and meetups.”

Through her connections within the church, Lauren found out there were several vacant churches around Canberra. After a few discussions, she was permitted to manage the venue on behalf of the Canberra region Presbytery of the Uniting Church.

“I feel like I was able to be the person to turn the lights back on and build community and have a space where those women were able to come and create community,” says Lauren. “I obtained a grant for the paint and the curtains, and with lots of elbow grease and blood, sweat and tears, opened the space.”

Equipped with bathrooms, a quaint kitchen and an outdoor area, the space needed some TLC. Between getting the keys in June and launching the Sanctuary in August, Lauren completely transformed the space but kept some key pieces that honoured the history of the building like the lectern and piano.

“It’s like this offering of love and heritage and a space that is not new, there is a rich deep love here and I feel that is what our guests often feel when they come here.”

Find out more about Sanctuary in Narrabundah; sanctuarycanberra.com.au

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