The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
A chat with Brittany Freeman of the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
Just recently, we were invited over for a presentation and tour of the newly reopened Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in Clerkenwell and were shown around by the Centre’s Content and Programme Producer Brittany Freeman. As illustration is what we’re about, this seemed like a good opportunity to share what the Centre is, their aims, and what’s going on there at present.
A little background – Sir Quentin Blake, illustrator, cartoonist and children’s writer, perhaps best known as the illustrator of many of Roald Dahl’s books, founded the House of Illustration in London in 2014, as a centre for exhibitions and educational activities. In 2020, it was decided to relocate to the heritage site of the restored 18th and 19th Century waterworks at the Engine House at New River Head in Clerkenwell. This site opened on 5 June as the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration.
In its own words, the Centre is ‘the UK’s first and only charity for illustration art that communicates stories and ideas’. It provides the world’s largest dedicated space for exhibition on illustration, and projects produced in collaboration with illustrators, collections, universities, schools, community groups, and touring partners.
At present, its three exhibition spaces offer British Sri Lankan multi-disciplinary artist MURUGIAH’s ‘Ever Feel Like…’, ‘Queer as Comics’, which looks at stories of fantasy, identity and resistance told by queer comic-makers, and ‘Quentin Blake: Performance’ showcasing Quentin’s theatrical influences.
There are also regular talks. For example, on 2 July former Editor-in-Chief of It’s Nice That Matt Alagiah will be talking to MURUGIAH on his creative journey, his process, and the state of illustration today. While, on 8 July, An Evening with Queer as Comics will host a discussion between established cartoonists Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton, and contemporary creators Leo Fox and Ollie Hicks.
We caught up with Brittany to find out more about the Centre, its history and ambitions for the future.
Hi Brittany – to start, could you tell us about your role at the Centre and what it entails?
As Content and Programme Producer, I look after our ongoing programme of talks, workshops and courses, bringing people together and starting conversations in connection with illustration and our exhibitions. These events and opportunities to get creative and build new skills are a great way for people to meet leading artists working today as well as to find their own creative community, whether you are a working illustrator or new to illustration and interested to learn more.
Had Quentin long held an ambition to found an institution like this?
Yes! Quentin founded our charity in 2002 with the aim of creating the UK’s first public place dedicated to illustration. Over the first decade, he brought together friends, former students and colleagues to imagine what a national centre for illustration could be, and started building support for their idea. In 2014, we opened House of Illustration, a public space in Kings Cross with galleries, a learning studio and shop. While searching for a permanent home for our work, we found New River Head, derelict waterworks in Clerkenwell. With the help of Tim Ronalds Architects we restored the site, transforming it into the UK’s only dedicated space for illustration and opening to the public in June 2026, finally realising Quentin’s dream and ambition.
Can you tell us a little about the history of the Engine House?
New River Head has a rich history: the buildings were once part of a network that supplied water across the city and their story connects us to more than 400 years of urban development and social change. In 1768, the tall engine house (easy to spot as you walk around Clerkenwell) was built at the site to house steam-powered pumps to bring water from the New River to reach the City of London. It was extended several times to house bigger and more powerful machines and in the 1840s, coal stores and boiler houses were added.
Is Quentin still very much involved in the Centre?
Quentin is still very much involved, he is a Founding Trustee and the Centre’s leadership team communicates with him and his team regularly, working closely with them to share material from his 40,000 work archive.
What are your intentions for the Centre now it’s reopened?
The Centre aims to explore illustration and its role in our lives through a distinctive, dynamic programme of exhibitions, residencies and public events. We aim to support contemporary illustrators and champion artists who have been marginalised, share work from the extraordinary archive of our founder Quentin Blake, and exhibit original artworks, often on display for the first time. We also aim to empower more people as illustrators, championing visual literacy in education and within communities.
What exhibitions do you have on at the moment?
Our opening exhibitions include Queer as Comics, which traces queer comic history from the 1940s to the present day, MURUGIAH: Ever Feel Like…, the first solo show from multidisciplinary illustrator MURUGIAH showcasing his commercial work alongside newly created personal paintings and an installation, and Quentin Blake: Performance, which exhibits work from the Quentin Blake archive on the theme of performance, thinking of the illustrator as a theatre director. In our library, you can find a range of contemporary illustration on display including work from illustrator Sophy Hollington. In our Windmill Base – London’s oldest surviving windmill – you can find Exquisite People, a display by participants from Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants with MURUGIAH.
What else does the Centre offer?
Alongside our exhibitions, we have a free to access library where you can relax with a graphic novel, browse an illustrated magazine or use art materials and try illustrating yourself. Deeney’s Café serves up an excellent menu and is a lovely place to meet for a coffee or spend an afternoon. Our shop is well stocked with illustrator essentials from prints to art materials. You can also join one of our regular family activities, workshops or courses if you are interested in longer-term learning. Keep an eye on our what’s on and sign up to our mailing list to find out what’s coming up this autumn.
Do you see it very much as a community hub?
Yes! We intended for the Centre to be a place where all feel welcome, and where communities can form and develop whether that is a group of like-minded creatives trying new ways of working as part of one of our courses, illustration students spending an afternoon in our library or local Islington residents meeting in our Café. As the world’s largest dedicated space for illustration, it’s a great place for people to come together, feel inspired and at home.
Finally, do you have a personal favourite illustrator you’d like to see featured at the Centre one day?
There are so many illustrators whose work I love and admire – it’s too hard to choose! But I really enjoy having the opportunity here at the Centre to work with lots of different illustrators across our exhibitions, events and courses.
Photo credits:
1 Justin Piperger
2 Justin Piperger
3 Peter Speller
4 Justin Piperger
5 Peter Speller
