Higher Ground Studio was founded in 2009 when artist Daniel O’Toole asked David Leach &Tony Kenny if they had anywhere for him to make work for an upcoming exhibition. Dan and fellow artist Max Berry had founded Oh Really Gallery an artist run initiative on Enmore Rd in Newtown and David and Tony loved that Dan and Max were helping friends put on exhibitions while also trying to forge a career as artists themselves. After a few days consideration they offered Dan the ‘derelict zone’ in their building, a dusty neglected space used only for storage.

In the early days Dan was the only artist working in this previously neglected space, soon other artists asked to join and the space quickly became a thriving hub of creativity for early career artists.

Today the studio is home to 10 artists with all costs covered by David &Tony and in return each artist gifts two works per year to the Higher Ground Collection, a collection that has grown considerably over the years and one that will form a document of a period in time that will not last forever.