Sophie Parkin’s All-Artist Drinking Club Pops Up in London’s East End

London’s East End is soon to be home to a new artists membership drinking club, reports Artlyst. Located in Shoreditch, a mere five minute walk from the Whitechapel Art Gallery, the new venue promises space for artists to relax and socialize, as well as to exhibit and sell their work.

The club’s founders are English writer, artist, and actress Sophie Parkin, the daughter of artist Molly Parkin and dealer Michael Parkin, and her husband, Dutchman Jan Vink. For Parkin, the new venture represents a new beginning for area nightlife, which lost the beloved Colony Room Club after 60 years in 2008. Last year, she published a book in tribute to the former artistic haven.

A veteran of the London club scene, Parkin has long hoped to open an establishment of her own, telling Artlyst “what I always wanted to do was take bits of each and make a brand new recipe that is anti celebrity(we are all celebrities)—formal enough that you want to dress up for parties and dancing, informal enough that I’d know everybody’s name and call them a cab if they needed to be in their pyjamas.”

Parkin plans to keep the club open five days a week, and will close in observance of religious feasts such as Good Friday and Christmas day. The space can be rented for private parties or book launches, and will have a screening room for films. Monthly programming will include artist debating dinners and performances by singers, musicians, dancers, writers and artists.