Painters Palace reopens its community art space, with a new café now attached

Simply known as “The Palace” to regulars, this community art space was the brainchild of Brighton-to-Budapest transplant, Tomass. Sipping a flat white, his clothes and hands still marked by the stains of DIY renovation, he sits down to tell his story. “I was an architecture student in Nottingham,” he says, “and I decided to buy a one-way ticket to Amsterdam. I told my mum I’d either be gone two weeks or two years.” From Amsterdam, Tomass worked his way to Budapest, where he was captivated by the city. The two years have stretched into six.

The idea behind the Palace is simple: Come in, have a beer or a spritzer, and make art among friends. There’s no base skill level needed to attend, nor any expectations or pressure to perform. “Art is something we live for,” says the group’s website. “The act of creating holds the purest elements of life.” The doors are open as much as possible, so anyone can pop in throughout the week. On top of that, four weekly events take place regularly: Monday is for Creative Writing, Tuesday is for Portraiture, Wednesday is for Life Drawing and Friday is “Drink and Draw”. There is no guided instruction at these events, although participants are welcome to seek critique from the other artists. Sometimes live music is also included, most recently provided by Tomass's friend, Arif Erdem Ocak.

The dates and times are all detailed on the Facebook page.

The group have also recently acquired a café above-ground, on the corner of Bródy Sándor and Mária utca. The place had been abandoned for years, the interior completely neglected and covered in layers of tacky cheap paint. “We have been renovating since March,” says Tomass, hence the state of his clothes. “We moved in one day before the lockdown, so we’ve been working non-stop.” The group hopes that the café will be a more legitimate place to display and sell some of the art made in the Palace. The basement atmosphere is good for fostering creativity, but the sunlight of a superterranean structure is better suited to attracting the hoi polloi.

The new interior was designed by Tomass, and was realised through the efforts of many of the regulars from the Palace. It features natural wood accents, wispy hanging lights, floor-to-ceiling windows and large ornamental plants.

Up until 2019, the Painters Palace was a hub of activity. “We had hundreds of people coming to our events,” says Tomass, and he shows me videos on his phone of attendees spilling out onto the street. But all good things must come to an end, and eventually a noise complaint forced the Painters Palace move out. Four days before the eviction, however, providence intervened.

“Someone came up to me and said, ‘My friend gave me the keys to his basement, he wants me to do something creative with it,’” says Tomass. “And what do you know, it was literally around the corner. So nine of us showed up, and we moved everything down the road.” With a vastly increased floor space, the group hopes to be able to turn this basement area into something even greater than what was possible at their old location.

The interior of the cellar is mercifully cool after the staggering summer heat outside, and it’s easy to see why people like it here so much. Folks pop in and out as they all help prepare for the Life Drawing session that evening, the chatter and easy conversation making it clear that everyone is friends. There’s hardly such a thing as an outsider, either – in a few minutes, I’ve been drawn into the conversation, and for the rest of the evening I feel like I, too, was a part of this community since well before the hiatus.

The new Painters Palace is still in the making, but the organisation is excited to get events up and running again. Tomass stresses again that everyone is welcome to come – city residents, visitors and everyone in between. Paper, pencils, pastels and even some watercolours are on hand for those without ready art supplies, and the events are always free – although donations are gratefully accepted, as they keep the lights on. “It has always been my intention to make these free spaces for people to come and create,” says Tomass.

More information can be found on the website.