The SLG today

Margot Heller was appointed Director in 2001. January 2002 saw the publication of the first SLG newspaper, with each issue featuring an artist-designed pull-out section. The exhibitions programme continued to gain national and international acclaim, with solo exhibitions by Christian Boltanski, Keith Tyson and Joëlle Tuerlinckx, and the group touring show, 20 Million Mexicans Can't Be Wrong. The gallery also made a successful bid to the Arts Council’s Stabilisation Programme for a grant of £416,000 and in October 2003 separated from Southwark Council in order to become an independent charitable trust managed by a board of trustees. In the same year the Arts Council agreed a tenfold increase in revenue funding in recognition of the gallery’s significance as a centre of excellence, and Southwark Council has also continued to fund the SLG.

It was also in 2003 that architects Stanton Williams and the artist Ori Gersht were appointed to develop an architectural plan for enhancement of the SLG building. This first phase of the SLG building project was completed in 2004 and included a dedicated education space for the first time in the gallery’s history, as well as improving visitor facilities and providing access for disabled visitors throughout the building.

The artistic programme continues to grow and in recent years has included important solo exhibitions by established figures such as Tom Friedman, Mark Dion, Rivane Neuenschwander, Alfredo Jaar and Superflex; shows by younger and mid-career British artists such as Eva Rothschild and Ryan Gander, and group exhibitions bringing together established and lesser known British and international artists. The Live Art programme has continued with presentations by Rachel Gomme, Nathaniel Mellors, Gail Pickering, OMSK and Gisele Vienne, and the SLG has occasionally presented ambitious off-site projects, such as those by On Kawara in 2004 and Chris Burden in 2007.

Over the past five years the gallery has also developed a name for its innovative education and outreach work with schools and community groups. Up to 700 school children visit term-time exhibitions and Making Play is a three-year project funded by the National Lottery's Playful Ideas Fund and inspired by the possibilities of bringing together children’s play and contemporary art practice. The award-winning project Double Take presented works from the SLG's contemporary collection into two secondary schools over an 18-month period, and culminated in students curating, organising and publicising their own exhibitions from the collection.

The scope of the SLG’s activities has grown enormously in recent years resulting in the need for a substantial extension which opened in June 2010. Architects 6a transformed a neighbouring derelict house to create a suite of three exhibition spaces, a street-facing café and a flat for a programme of artist residencies. At the rear of the site is the Clore Studio, a state-of-the-art education and events space which quadruples the SLG's capacity for education and outreach activities.