The day I decided this place had to exist

Why I Created The Kontinuum... Art, Community, and the Kind of Support That Can Change a Life

There’s a moment, right before you do something massive, where your brain tries to save you...

It doesn’t feel like courage. It feels like a list.

A list of reasons not to.

Not enough money. Not enough time. Not enough energy. Not enough confidence. Not enough anything.

And then there’s the other voice.

The quieter one.

The one that doesn’t shout or argue.

It just says, very calmly, we can’t keep living like this.

That was the day The Kontinuum started.

Not on paper. Not on a Companies House form. Not when the keys turned in the lock.

It started when I realised how many people were walking around with their lives shrinking.

I know that feeling. I’ve lived it.

When your world gets smaller, it doesn’t happen dramatically. It happens in tiny negotiations.

You cancel one plan. Then another. Then you stop replying as fast. Then you stop going out unless you absolutely have to. Then you start telling yourself you’re just tired, just busy, just not in the mood.

Until one day you look up and you’re not living, you’re managing.

And the worst part is how normal it can look from the outside.

I didn’t want to build another “service”. I didn’t want to create another place where you have to explain yourself before you’re allowed to belong.

I wanted a room.

A real one.

A place where you can walk in and not feel like you’re being assessed.

A place where you can sit down and breathe without someone asking you to justify why you’re struggling.

A place where the first thing you’re offered is not a form, but a cup of tea and a bit of kindness.

And yes, it’s a gallery.

That’s not an accident.

Because a gallery is incognito.

You can come in “just for a look”. You can stand near a painting and pretend you’re only there for the art.

But what you’re really doing is letting your nervous system test the room.

You’re letting yourself be around people again.

You’re letting yourself be seen, without being exposed.

That’s the whole point.

People keep saying we’re living in a world where everything is digital, automated, fast, efficient.

But I’ve watched what that does to people.

It makes us quieter.

It makes us lonelier.

It makes us forget what it feels like to be in a room where nobody is performing.

So I decided to build the opposite.

A space where creativity isn’t a luxury.

It’s a way back.

And here’s the part I don’t think people realise.

The Kontinuum isn’t built on perfection.

It’s built on showing up.

On the days you feel brave and the days you don’t.

On the days you come in smiling and the days you come in with your shoulders up around your ears.

On the days you can talk and the days you can only sit.

We built a place where all of that is allowed.

Because that’s how people actually heal.

Not in one big breakthrough.

In small, safe moments that add up.

I wish I could tell you it was all very smooth and professional and Pinterest-worthy.

It wasn’t.

It was dust. It was paint. It was problem-solving. It was me staring at walls thinking, what have I done?

It was also laughter.

And it was also the first time someone walked in, looked around, and you could see their face change.

Like their body had just realised, oh… this is safe.

That’s when I knew...

This place had to exist...

And next time, I’ll tell you the exact moment it nearly didn’t.

Because there was a week where I genuinely thought I’d have to let the whole thing go… and I haven’t told that story properly yet.

Kerry Johnson

Founder & Chief Executive (CEO), The Kontinuum CIC