The Worshipful Company of Turners

Supporting the Craft, City and Charity for over four hundred years

The Cockpit Arts Turners Award 2019 Progress Report

Arturo Soto is a designer and maker who specialises in working with reclaimed and recycled materials to produce luxury items. He is focused on designing in a sustainable way to prove that we can make meaningful products using recycled, reusable materials. He believes that function equals beauty, and ultimate functionality leads to ultimate beauty.

Arturo has a Masters Degree in Visual Arts from the University of the Arts London – Camberwell College of Art.

Shop Arturo’s products at: Memories of Green

Arturo at Cockpit Arts: Cockpit Arts


The Award

This Award supported by the Worshipful Company of Turners helps an aspiring or established turner, someone who practices the art and craft of turning on a lathe in wood or other materials, to develop their craft practice and business by providing a sponsored place at Cockpit Arts Deptford for a year including a studio and support services, as well as additional support from the Company.

The Cockpit Arts / Turners’ Award was created to provide an aspiring or established turner with the space and time to grow their business, increase profitability and develop their profile. Previous Award winners include Eleanor Lakelin and Frank Boggis Rolfe (2011), Chloe Robertson (2012), Matthew Corbishley (2014) Darren Appiagyei (2017) Rafael Santoliquido (2018).

The Award includes studio space and access to a lathe and workbench for a year at Cockpit Arts Deptford, London SE8. In addition, the Awardee has access to the business and professional development services at Cockpit Arts, including on-site coaching, a personalised development plan and business skills workshops, as well as public selling events twice a year and a range of promotional opportunities.

Arturo Soto was selected for the 2019 Award. This report contains Arturo’s six-month personal progress report, as well as input from the Cockpit Arts’ business development team on support provided to date.

The current Award was due to finish on 30 June. Cockpit Arts extended the Award for the length of time of the government lockdown, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. We did this because our mission is to help makers and we want them to get the most of their Award year, which the current emergency has curtailed. We are extremely grateful to the Turners Company for bearing the cost to extend the Award beyond the original commitment to ensure the best chance of success for Arturo as his Award and this period of valuable support comes to an end.

David Crump, Head of Business Incubation

Cockpit Arts Awards


Question and Answer session with Arturo:

Q. Implications of the Covid-19 emergency on your practice?

A. Completely and absolutely, everything closed, Markets are barely open. My reclaimed and responsible wood sources were unable to deliver or have long delivery times. It was all a big mess. I was just not comfortable with the situation and the state in which I had to design. There was nothing for me to do but to plan ahead. I have been reading and planning my next collection.


Read the report in full here (PDF)


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