Theresa Simon & Partners Ltd.

Launch Pad is a commissioning series by contemporary art collector Sarah Elson, which pioneers a new approach to patronage. The programme offers a unique platform to artists who have not yet exhibited in the UK, inviting up to three artists a year to produce site-specific installations within the space of Elson’s own home in West London. Her house is then opened to the public for inaugural week-long ‘exhibition’ periods.

By creating this platform, Elson is able to introduce the artists to her wide network of art world contacts, providing potential avenues to future commissions and exhibitions and giving vital support to artists early in their careers. Launch Pad also gives Elson, who is a trained art historian and consultant to private and corporate collections, an opportunity to bring focus to her own somewhat impulsive collecting habits. Inviting the artist to live at her home for a recce period and then during the installation of the new work, the process sees a period of intensive creative interaction between artist and collector that in turn grows into a collaborative working relationship.

Launch Pad began in January 2014 with an installation of the work of German artist Suse Weber.