Artist Tracey Emin to Establish Art School, Residency Program in Margate

Turner Prize–nominated artist Tracey Emin will establish an art school and museum in her seaside hometown of Margate, England. She plans to house the school, titled TKE Studios, in a former bathhouse and mortuary located near her 30,000-square-foot studio, which was formerly a commercial printer. The Times of London first reported news of the school on Wednesday.

Emin’s plan for the school’s redesign will see 30 affordable studios erected for its enrolled students. The mortuary will be converted into a small museum that is set to house a collection of Emin’s own work.

In recent years, the British artist has been public about a battle with squamous cell bladder cancer that resulted in a hysterectomy. Since her cancer diagnosis, she became increasingly focused on preserving her legacy. In September, Emin announced plans to have her studio turned into a museum that will house an archive of 30,000 photographs and 2,500 works on paper.

Emin told the Times in an interview that TKE Studios’ students will be required to display their work regularly, in an effort to foster an environment of what she called “constant intellectual rigor.” Emin also plans to launch an artist’s residency program in another location in Margate, in the hopes of drawing artists to the city.

Margate has long been afflicted by a high poverty rate, though officials there have been efforts to turn around its reputation, in part by luring art spaces. In 2011, Turner Contemporary, an art space that hosted the Turner Prize show in 2019, was opened in the city.