What we're working on in 2020

Intelligence exchange

• There has been a lively exchange of research, inspiration and information. Exhibition invitations have been shared to attend various events including (by no means exhaustive) various exhibitions and events for The British Textile Biennial, The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, The Bluecoat Display Centre JÖL Exhibition, Gordon Baldwin and Matthew Harris exhib, Marketplace Studio events, Great Northern Graduates at Manchester Craft and Design Centre, Halima Cassell at Manchester Art Gallery. Plus invitations to the Textile and Place Conference 2020 hosted by Manchester School of Art  

Sharing members’ expertise and good practice

• Three specialists in Craft and Wellbeing shared skills and information at September meeting, following on from last year’s successful input on Audience Development. We will be planning future inputs at our next meeting in March 2020. 
• Jacqui Wood of ARC (Arts in the Community, Stockport) and Donna Claypool of University of Bolton plan to meet about the possibility of ARC doing a presentation or even developing a mini-module on socially engaged art. 
• Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair is working with Manchester Craft and Design Centre to present makers from the Great Northern Graduates section of the Fair. They are looking into whether this could be a longer term arrangement. 
• Alice Kettle of MMU is aiming to connect us with PhD research around leadership in the craft sector ARC moved to the Hatworks in December and has invited NWCN members to a special opening and consultation to take place in March  

Building the case for the value of craft

• We continue to work on out collective letter to educational policy makers from leaders in the NW Craft sector outlining the essential part that craft education plays in sustaining the Creative Industries and our social and cultural capital both in the short and long term. Following feedback from various people aiming to influence Educational Policy makers, we have decided on a change of tack and will be gathering the material into a succinct form and to link with the Craft’s Council’s Make Your Future campaign – to encourage grassroots change affecting the region. The team will meet to discuss this in early 2020  

Building infrastructure for collaborative work and resource sharing (joint projects and exhibitions)

• Rebecca Hill of Gallery Oldham has gathered a working group NW touring craft showcase and collections visits are planned in 2020 
• Several members are looking to create events that can be part of the Craft’s Council Year of Craft 2021, and we will explore possibilities for shared promotion. E.g. The University of Bolton is looking into running a symposium along the lines of the NWCN’s successful ‘Shaping the Future’ event held in 2016. This will be on the agenda of the March meeting
• Sam Rhodes at The Bluecoat Display Centre, Nicola Scott of Liverpool Museums and Colin Simpson of Wirral Museums Service have worked together to successfully apply to the Art Fund for a grant to fund a project looking at reanimating craft within the collections, culminating in an exhibition in 2021 and an element of curatorial development which will allow sharing of information and outcomes with the wider Network. 
• The Jerwood Makers Open will come to Manchester City Gallery in early 2020 and we are exploring the possibility of contributing to a curatorial development event to coincide with the event, in partnership with other organisations.  

Supporting a healthy craft ecology

• The NWCN is vigorously participating in the Craft UK forum to increase connectivity and the flow of information between crafts organisations widely across the UK. We will be seeking to join a wider national group in the Craft UK Form that w ill take place as part of Collect in 2020

What the Network has achieved since its relaunch in April 2019

Intelligence exchange

• There has been a lively exchange of research, inspiration and information.
• From Craft exhibitions (Too many to mention all, but….., Alex Sickling at Manchester Craft and Design Centre (MCDC), Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair (GNCCF) Sheffield, Pottery Pioneers celebrating  the positive impact of ceramics on mental health (ARC, Stockport), Go Eco, Adam Ross, Collected and Jane Adam at the Bluecoat Display Centre), the Festival of Making, Textile Biennial,  Activities at the MMU Marketplace Stockport, , The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, Halima Cassell’s exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery, events and exhibitions at ARC Stockport 
• …..to conferences and talks (Heritage Craft Association Conference, Why Craft Matters at Harewood House,  CERI (Cultural Education Research Initiative) Conference at Tate Liverpool, The Festival of Making, 2020 Textile and Place Conference)

Sharing members’ expertise and good practice

• At our march 2019 meeting Jo Kay, an audience development specialist and NWCN member has shaped and delivered a session on ‘Audience Targeting for Craft Sales’ for regular members of the Network and wider contacts in the NW who might benefit.
• For our September 2019 meeting three speakers presented on Craft and Well Being: Vicky Charnock, Arts for Health lead at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and two case studies by Verity Pulford, a maker who completed a residency/commission at the Walton Centre about the impact on a maker’s practice and Jacqui Wood – Artistic Director of ARC (Arts in the Community) Stockport about the Pottery Pioneers Project/Craft with Mums with Post Natal Depression.

Building the case for the value of craft

• We continue to work on out collective letter to educational policy makers from leaders in the NW Craft sector outlining the essential part that craft education plays in sustaining the Creative Industries and our social and cultural capital both in the short and long term.  The letter has been drafted and we have gathered responses from those in the section who will see and feel the impact on culture, employment and communities further down the line.

Building infrastructure for collaborative work and resource sharing (joint projects and exhibitions)

• Rebecca Hill of Gallery Oldham has gathered a working group NW touring craft showcase. Additional galleries have expressed an interest. There is still the possibility of this being part of the Crafts Council’s Year of Craft in 2021 and have explored angles and themes. A collections meeting took place in Liverpool at the Walker Art Gallery. Several outcomes are possible, and Nicola Scott is preparing a draft proposal for a craft show in a showcase at the Walker for discussion by the programming team. Further collections visits are planned to gain an understanding what is in our collections that we could explore in a show.
• The Jerwood Makers Open will come to Manchester City Gallery in early 2020 and we have explored the possibility of staging a curatorial development event in collaboration with MAG.

Supporting a healthy craft ecology

• We generated and took part in numerous discussions about how to create a healthy craft sector from nourishing future creative to developing resilient leaders. For example, the Festival of making created business support events for makers.
• We created a new logo (see above )to give the work of the NWCN a visual identity. Great Northern Events chipped in to support us to create a simple text based logo for members to use.
• We put together some ‘Terms of Reference’ to aid new members to the group and to encourage free and prolific information exchange.
• The NWCN is vigorously participating in the Craft UK forum to increase connectivity and the flow of information between crafts organisations widely across the UK

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What the NW Craft Network has achieved - Autumn/Winter 2018

Connections and ideas continue to flow for the North West Craft Network. Ideas, small and large, hatched in the early part of the year are slowly coming to fruit, and we are beginning to revisit more ambitious plans that were seeded in early years and we now have the firmer foundation to start to make these things happen.

Intelligence exchange

• Research, exhibition invitiations and information exchanged widely.
• Awards and opportunities for makers shared with Development Group and wider networks. As a result of connections made through the NW Craft network in 2014 Liam Hopkins was shortlisted for Arts Foundation’s Designer Maker of the year award 2019.

Sharing members’ expertise and good practice

• Jo Kay, an audience development specialist and member of the network has shaped an ‘Audience Targeting for Craft Sales’ session for the next Meeting of the NW Craft Development Group (early 2019). This part of the meeting has been opened more widely to organisations who don’t usually attend the meeting but who sell craft.
• Crafts Council launched UK Craft Network, and we’ve talked with their lead on this to see how we can connect our North West members into this national network, exchange information and ideas, best practice and advocate for North West craft.
• ARC’s (Arts for Recovery in the Community) CPD programme for volunteers on their Pottery Pioneers project is underway and will engage Network members to train volunteers.

Building the case for the value of craft

• A task group will meet in early 2019 to workshop a collective letter about the value of Craft to Education for circulation to educational policy makers.

Building infrastructure for collaborative work and resource sharing (joint projects and exhibitions)

• The Network will revisit its plans for an outstanding NW generated Craft showcase touring exhibition at our next meeting in March. This follows on from initial research in the previous years of the network.
• The Jerwood Makers Open will come to Manchester City Gallery and members are keen to get involved with collaborative projects. This will be developed at the next meeting.

Supporting a healthy craft ecology

• Manchester Craft and Design Centre connected with the lead on the Greater Manchester Cultural Strategy and we will be exploring collaborations.
• Inspired by discussions around nourishing makers of the future, Manchester Art Gallery has decided to put on another Future Creative Event in March 2019. Students will be invited to respond to the gallery's displays to make products for sale in the gallery shop
• Professional coach and maker Victoria Scholes delivered the third of three business review days for residents and networks of Manchester Craft and Design Centre in January 2019.

The North West Craft Network is back in action!

After a between-funding break, the NW Craft Network is back.

We’re delighted to say that the Manchester Craft and Design Centre has been awarded some funding to pay for administrative support for the Network. This will allow us to meet and share information to help support contemporary craft in the North West.

More to follow soon, but for the moment we’re getting our data in order and sending out emails to ask if you want to stay in touch.

You can opt in to receive emails from us here: 

North West Craft Network - more news soon!

We're between projects at the moment while we work on a funding plan for our goals around bringing makers and Museums together; developing a top quality touring craft exhibition for the North West and incubating our amazing NW talent.

Watch this space for news about what next....

What next for the North West Craft Network

The North West Craft Network is planning an ambitious three-year programme to build an entrepreneurial, resilient and outstanding craft community in the North West that is positioned firmly at the heart of the region’s creative industries.  

We aim to grow the market, build audiences, increase revenue, incubate makers and keep our craft talent working and showing in the region.

To kick-start these plans, we’ll be aiming to run a series of three pilots, funded (we hope) with a £15K bid to Grants for the Arts, matched with funding from Network members. Key elements are:

• Makers and Museums. Developing and testing a model for the sale of high quality craft in NW museum retail spaces that will increase revenue and build the markets and audience for craft to the advantage of both makers and museums.

• Developing a proposal for a touring NW exhibition. A collective approach makes a stronger sector: we'll share expertise and collectively develop an outstanding idea for a touring craft show that will create a big message about craft, invigorate collections, commission new work and develop significant new audiences.
• Incubation. Exploring and testing sustainable options to develop and keep craft talent in the NW in the long term. 

All this comes from the opinions and data we gathered over the last two years from a wide range of craft professionals in the North West. The programme proposes a way to enhance the vitality of the North West craft sector and make it a recognised centre for national activity and excellence.

To decide how to go forward, we asked ourselves a few key questions. What will we do best as this particular group of people? Some things are best done by individuals, partnerships or small groups - what can NW Craft Network do as a group that no other group could naturally do? What is ambitious and far reaching in its scope? And lastly and more practically, what is feasible for us to do?

If we're successful in our bid to ACE, we should be up and running with this in early 2017. Watch this space for more, keep an eye on our Twitter account @nwcraftnetwork, or sign up to our mailing list.

Top Five Product Photography Tips for Makers

@Janet Broughton

Professional photographer Janet Broughton of Definitely Dreaming offers makers some fantastic tips about photographing contemporary craft.

Beautiful photos can do so much for a maker – helping your work to stand out from the crowd and giving it a long-lived web presence.

Bad photos, on the other hand, can work very hard to make even the best stuff look drab and boring, and are a disaster when it comes to competitions and show submissions.

Janet Broughton gives her advice to help you take photos that won’t let you down.  And if you need more help, Janet runs photography workshops for makers in her studio in Bolton – perfect for those of us based in the North West. And there’s a cheeky little discount available too. Read on.....

1.     Use the best camera you can afford.

Much as you may love your phone camera and find it quick and convenient to use it’s not ideal for product photography. Unless you always shoot flatlays in perfect light and your products aren’t very three dimensional a DSLR will produce much better images than your phone. If you are serious about your business it’s worthwhile investing in a camera and learning how to use it in Aperture Priority mode.


By all means keep using your phone for those quick behind the scenes or work in progress snaps for sharing on social media but use something better for those images that need to sell your products.


2.     Avoid white backgrounds.

Unless you have a compelling reason to shoot on a plain white background, don’t! They can look sterile and bland and they definitely won’t allow you to inject your brand personality into your product images. But even more importantly they are difficult to photograph well, you need very good, even lighting and you need to know how to override your camera’s automatic exposure.


Don’t forget that your customers are highly likely to spend time on Pinterest and Instagram and they have become accustomed to seeing high quality lifestyle images, badly executed white backgrounds will stand out to them, but not in a good way unfortunately.


3.     Never use the built in flash on your camera.

There are no circumstances where the little in built flash is going to enhance your images so please, just turn it off and forget it even exists. It casts an ugly, harsh light with horrible shadows and lots of glare. It will never flatter your products!


4.     Use natural light wherever possible.

Unless you have the tiniest windows and are surrounded by tall buildings or trees you are likely to have enough natural light to photograph your products, you might need to search for it though!


 Start by placing your products close to windows and look at how the light lands on it and what sort of shadows you have, some shadows are good, just make sure they aren’t too dark. If the light seems too bright move away until it looks better. If there isn’t enough light in the window try opening a door and working in the doorway. If you have a garage you could even open the garage door and work in the doorway, you can use fabric or other backdrops to disguise your location.


5.     Don’t overdo the editing.

A little editing of your images is usually a good idea, a gentle lightening of shadows and a contrast boost can transform a picture but be careful not to overdo it! You should always aim to get your picture as good as you possibly can “in camera”. A badly taken picture can’t be rescued without the final image looking artificial and the colours becoming a little strange. Avoid gimmicky edits at all costs, they will cheapen your products and your pictures will soon look dated.


Bio:

Janet Broughton is an award winning photographer based in Bolton and working throughout the North West. In addition to offering commercial photography services to smaller businesses Janet runs regular product photography workshops to help creative business owners improve their own photography skills so that they can showcase their products online.


Janet also has a blog, Definitely Dreaming, where she shares photography inspiration and advice.

Details of upcoming photography workshops can be found at www.definitelydreaming.com/photography-workshops-for-creatives

North West Craft: curator collaboration event

Thurs 28 April 2016
1-5.30pm (with infomal chat and drinks until about 7pm)
The Manchester College, St. John's Centre
Free

We're inviting people who curate contemporary craft in the North West to look at how our practice can strengthen high quality craft in the region. 

If you're a curator of contemporary craft collections, a freelance curator, a gallery who sells, a maker-curator, an emerging curator or if you're at the cutting edge of craft research - we'd love to see you here.

The NW Craft Network is putting together an afternoon of networking and collaboration to address the challenges we face, enhance our strengths and make strategic and practical plans for the future.
 
We'd like to find ways to co-ordinate, build ideas, share expertise and provide encouragement. What we don't want to do is simply make more demands - it's about working cleverly together to get things done in a difficult economic and social climate and building a plan that will make a significant positive impact on the curating of contemporary Craft in the North West.

Participants will be able to share their ideas, explore best practice, identify promising projects and look at next steps. There will be time to meet others and network both formally and informally.
 
The afternoon will start with some case studies to get us thinking. Steven Whittle from the Atkinson, Southport is going to talk about the Creative Tensions project with reference to invigorating craft collections, and Kaylee Jenkinson of Manchester Craft and Design Centre is going to talk about showcasing emerging makers with the Crafts Council in the Hothouse Programme. We're working on one more case study to look at a critically engaged open exhibition and/or international collaborations.
 
From there, we're going to ask participants to look at some of the ideas and projects that have been suggested over the last two years of the NW Craft Networks activity, add more, and to assess them for feasibility, impact and priority.  Then we'll home in on two or three ideas that seem most promising and work them up into proposals that could be taken forward.

After the formal activities are done, we're hoping to head down to Manchester City Gallery for a look at the new Design Gallery, and then for a drink and chat in the café.

There are 30 places on this event, and we're hoping for a good representation from each area of curating. If you curate craft and you'd like to come, or you know someone who you think should come, please contact Victoria Scholes, the co-ordinator of the NW Craft Network at craftnorthwest@gmail.com, and she'll arrange for an invitation.

The NW Craft Network is organising this curator collaboration day in conjunction with another event, 'Shaping the Future' that will bring the craft community together to look at building the NW craft market, maker support and advocacy. Together, the findings from these events will feed into the Network's strategy and plans for the next three years and aim to put NW craft on the map.

Lunch. The event begins at 1pm, but St John's centre has a restaurant where people arriving early can buy their lunch or bring their own.

The Manchester College. St. John's Centre, Quay Street M3 3BE (near Spinningfields and Old Granada Studios. See a map here
 
Parking. There is no on-site parking, but there are plenty of car parks around the centre. See Parkopedia to check nearby car parks. There are good train and tram links from surrounding cities and towns.

Organised by the NW Craft Network in partnership with The Manchester College

Making connections, getting inspired, hatching plans

Shaping the Future: making a vision for craft in the North West
Conference
10 March at the University of Bolton
12.30-7pm

Tickets £15       Book here


Make connections, build your practice, talk about your challenges, and hear talks by people who make, move and shake in the craft world. You'll have a chance to shape future plans, as well as meet and network with some of the UK and Ireland's best makers and craft organisations.

Open to makers, curators, galleries, managers - anyone who works with contemporary craft in the NW. Make connections, be energised & hatch plans to put NW craft on the map.

Speakers are Louise Allen, head of programmes and innovation for Craft and Design Council Ireland; Geoff Mann, Scottish glass artist, innovator and educator and Liam Hopkins of Lazerian, an internationally renowned creative studio based in Manchester.

Organised by the NW Craft Network in partnership with the University of Bolton

More about the day here
Book tickets here

Shaping the Future: Making a Vision for Craft in the North West

Join us for talks and activities that will shape the future of craft in the North West
Conference
10 March 2016, 12.30-7pm
The University of Bolton, Deane Rd, Bolton, BL3 5AB

Geoffrey Mann, The Secret Life of Shadows @SDeleau

Tickets £15        To book click here

What are the challenges you face as someone who works with contemporary craft in the North West? What can we do to make craft and makers great? What actually is the Northern Powerhouse? What does the future hold?

Liminal Exhibition 2015 - DCCoI

Come and talk about your challenges; hear inspirational speakers on topics such as trends, Northern-ness and new technologies and what they might mean for us; take part in structured sessions that will form a plan of action to strengthen the sector, and build your connections with a vibrant network of makers, galleries, museums, educators and Arts organisations.

If you're anyone who works with craft in a professional capacity in the North West, this day is for you. Together we can make the North West a brilliant place for contemporary craft and the people who make it.

Louise Allen, Innovations and Development DCCoI

Speakers are Louise Allen, Head of Innovation and Development Programmes, Design and Crafts Council Ireland (DCCoI); renowned Scottish Artist, Designer and educator, and pioneer of new technologies, Geoffrey Mann and Manchester dynamo and the brains behind creative studio Lazerian, Liam Hopkins

Special sessions will seek your views on a host of potential activities that could form our future plans – covering maker development, increasing markets and improving knowledge, confidence and understanding about North West craft inside and outside the region.  We’ll look at things like getting more craft exhibitions in the North West’s museums or setting up a major regional craft open of national quality. Could we have a North West Craft festival? What about a yearly celebration of making like the Sheffield Design week, or open studios like C-Art in Cumbria? Or could we encourage more incubation spaces and business support for makers? These ideas and lots more will be on the table.

Making friends and connections: the heart of it all

There will be lots of opportunity for you to ask specific targeted questions about your work or practice. Central to the afternoon will be a networking hub gathering many of the members of the NW Craft Network Development Group. These include makers, galleries, curators, museums and more. They'll be ready to meet you, chat about your practice and answer questions. See information about the Networking Hub here.

For an outline of the day, click here

To book click here

 

Coming up on 10 March - a day to shape the future of craft in the North West

Geoff Mann, Crossfire wineglass. Image Sylvain Deleau

Shaping the Future: Making a Vision for Craft in the North West
10 March, 12.30-7pm
University of Bolton

Tickets £15 (to be released 25 Jan)

Coming soon! An afternoon of talks and activities that will shape the future of craft in the North West.

Come and talk about your challenges; hear inspirational speakers on topics such as global trends, the Northern powerhouse and new technologies and what they might mean for us; take part in structured sessions that will form a plan of action to strengthen the sector, and build your connections with a vibrant network of makers, galleries, museums, educators and more.

Speakers so far announced include Louise Allen, Head of Innovation and Development Programmes, Design and Crafts Council Ireland and renowned Scottish Artist, Designer and educator, Geoffrey Mann.

Put the date in your diary! More to follow soon.....

Craft in the North West this January

Some serious craft shows going on in the North West of Englan this January; and a few to catch before they close.  Stuff to sooth the soul and inspire creative thinking and doing!

Last Chance
Exploring Wonderland at MCAD To 14 Feb www.craftanddesign.com

Art_Textiles at the Whitworth. To 21 Jan
http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/upcomingexhibitions/

On now

Modern Japanese Design at Manchester Art Gallery. 4 Dec to January 2017.  http://manchesterartgallery.org/

The Pilcrow: The pub that Manchester built (or is building, to be precise) Ongoing workshops - check details here http://www.thepilcrowpub.com/ 

Natural Makers at Touchstones Rochdale To 27 Feb 2016. www.link4life.org/centres/touchstones-rochdale 

Jarred: Ceramics from the Collection is on at Touchstones. To Spring 2016
http://www.link4life.org/whats-on/touchstones-rochdale/exhibitions/2505-jarred-ceramics-from-the-collection

Sculpting Stories at Gallery Oldham, including studio ceramics from their collections.  To Summer 2016. www.galleryoldham.org.uk/


Coming soon
Brilliance at The Bluecoat Display Centre To 5 March 2016 www.bluecoatdisplaycentre.com


New gallery space opens in January 2016 at MMU MarketPlace Studios, Stockport. https://www.facebook.com/Marketplace-Studios-250408291826588/

Buy handmade crafts and share the love....

Chris Boland ring

Buy Handmade crafts this Christmas! Resist the siren call of the green-eyed consumer monster without turning into Ebernezer Scrooge.

Crafts offer some of the most gorgeous and original gift ideas at any time, from jewellery to toys to gifts for the home. Plus by buying locally you support an artist, boost your local economy and pump energy into your community.

What could be lovelier than buying something unique, handmade and buzzing with authenticity for your nearest and dearest? I think that's what you call a win-win situation.

The North West has many brilliant makers and plenty of places to buy their work. Here are just a few:

Little Northern Contemporary Craft Fair
An off-shoot of the wonderful Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair


The Atkinson, Southport
Their shop sells a range of delightful crafts for all ages

Manchester Craft and Design Centre

The Craft Shop at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool

Blackwell House - Cumbria
Sells lovely crafts in their shop  - all in the setting of a brilliant Arts and Crafts House. Part of Lakeland Arts

Gawthorpe Textiles Collection - Padiham, near Burnley
Reopening after refurbishment in Spring 2016, you can still buy fabulous knitting patterns inspired by the collections online via their Ravlery shop at any time. Great for the crafters in your life!

Harris Museum and Art Gallery,  Preston
Features a selection of small-scale craft pieces in their shop, usually by Preston-based makers


The NW Craft Network aims to promote and strengthen high quality craft in the North West. For more about the Network, click here.

Seriously good Craft in the UK's North West this December

Natural Makers, Touchstones Rochdale

A host of seriously good Craft exhibitions and events that span pondering the meaning of art, making, material, process through to brilliant possibilities for Christmas presents. And making stuff. Enjoy...

You can also see and (if you're an organisation) add new events in our publically available Google Calendar here

Opening this month
Modern Japanese Design at Manchester Art Gallery. 4 Dec to January 2017. http://manchesterartgallery.org/


The Pilcrow: launch. More about the pub that Manchester built (or is building, to be precise) here 4 December. http://www.thepilcrowpub.com/

Little Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. Altrincham Town Hall, Market St., 
Altrincham
 WA14 1PG (NEW venue!) 6 December.
http://www.greatnorthernevents.co.uk/1082#.Vl1Te3tv6dE

Natural Makers at Touchstones Rochdale 12 Dec To 27 Feb 2016. Stuart Cairns, Laura Ellen Bacon, Adam Buick, Sharon Adams.
www.link4life.org/centres/touchstones-rochdale

Sculpting Stories at Gallery Oldham, including studio ceramics from their collections. 19 Dec to Summer 2016
www.galleryoldham.org.uk/

On now

Art_Textiles at the Whitworth. To 21 Jan

http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/upcomingexhibitions/

Back to Black. Contemporary jewellery at Manchester Art Gallery - extended to 31 January
http://manchesterartgallery.org/

Jarred: Ceramics from the Collection is on at Touchstones. To Spring 2016
http://www.link4life.org/whats-on/touchstones-rochdale/exhibitions/2505-jarred-ceramics-from-the-collection

'All Wrapped Up' & 'Esben and Wolfe Screen Prints' The Craft Shop at the Royal Exchange Theatre. To 3 Jan at   www.royalexchange.co.uk/craft-shop

All That Glitters at The Bluecoat Display Centre to 16 Jan 2016 www.bluecoatdisplaycentre.com

Exploring Wonderland at MCAD to 14 Feb
www.craftanddesign.com

Coming soon

New gallery space opens in January 2016 at MMU MarketPlace Studios, Stockport. Keep an eye out here

Great Craft events in the North West - a calendar

Making the NW Craft Network a Network

Ever since the North West Craft Network got started we've wondered how to create a balance between working size and inclusion. Too big and we can't manage and afford meetings. Too small and we get loads done and can meet easily, but we don't represent the whole.

Anyway, we were discussing this in the NW Craft Network Steering Group meeting and Kate Day, the Director of Manchester Craft and Design Centre, came up with this way to think about it (see her scribble on the right):

From now on, what was called the NW Craft Network will be the NW Craft Network Development Group.

The NW Craft Network Steering Group will still be the Steering Group

Anyone who cares about craft in the NW is free to join the Network - and can join for free at the moment, although we might have to review costs if we are to be sustainable in the long term.

But for now, let's make hay while the sun shines and sign up for nothing. Network members will recieve news and updates about what's going on with craft in and around the North West, consulted by web polls and email about relevant issues and will be invited to any events that we organise.

We'll take a week or so to update our web info with our slightly tweaked identity, but in the meantime: Welcome to the North West Craft Network.

To sign up go here
More about the NW Craft Network

North West Craft Network wins funding!

Makers & artist James Maskrey at The Whitworth

The North West Craft Network has won funding from Arts Council England for the second year of an already successful project to strengthen craft in the North West.  Together with small but significant funding contributions from leading North West craft venues; Gawthorpe Textiles Collection, Manchester Craft and Design Centre, The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, Bluecoat Display Centre, Gallery Oldham, The Whitworth Art Gallery and Bolton University, the Network is all set to put craft in the region firmly on the map.

At our Networking event at GNCCF

In 2015-16 the Network aims to put together an ambitious three to five year programme of activity that will make a real and lasting impact on the health of the North West’s craft sector.

The programme will build on the already considerable strengths of craft in the region but also address the particular challenges that the people making, curating, selling and buying craft in the North West face.

During the year the Network will create opportunities for the North West’s craft makers, curators and stakeholders to collaborate, share knowledge and shape a plan for the future. A key part of this will be two Network events; a day conference at Bolton University and a curator development day at Manchester College. In addition they will partner up with the likes of Great Northern Events (the people who run The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair) and Manchester Craft and Design Centre to support their existing maker and curator development plans.

The Network will also inject into the programme data gathered from last year’s work, which included maker and curator events at The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, The Whitworth and COLLECT at the Saatchi Gallery. To this, they will add targeted strands of new research into potential partnerships, exchanges, international collaborations and appropriate income streams.

Since it started in 2012 the Network has gone from strength to strength. One of the tasks for this year will be to address the issues of organisation and funding that this success has created so that the Network can become a permanent agent of support and development of craft in the region.

Craft has great potential to grow in the North West. As a region it has some top quality craft venues, as a glance at this list of venues that are concerned with craft attests. From public institutions around the region, including – to name just a few - The Whitworth, Manchester City Galleries, Gallery Oldham, Gawthorpe Textiles Collection and The Harris Museum and Art Gallery in Preston, to commercial concerns such as the Bluecoat Display Centre, and maker spaces such as Manchester Metropolitan University’s Marketplace Studio in Stockport and the Manchester Craft and Design Centre. There are fantastic collections, vibrant shows and new commissions taking place. Manchester hosts one of the UK’s main craft events in the form of the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair; not to mention a host of talented and respected professional makers; world class education and research in the field and a thriving amateur economy. But even so, the current economic climate presents tough challenges.

Markets for intensively produced, contemporary fine Craft are thin. Many buyers go elsewhere to build their collections, and there are still relatively few regional opportunities for exhibiting and selling. Part time work – often an important contribution to the income of both budding and established makers - is diminishing, creating a pull towards London and the South East. Curators find themselves stretched across a huge range of departments from fine art to science and critical writers who can explore, analyse and share the experience of craft among the community are few and far between.

The North West Craft Network was set up in 2012 to address issues such as these and build on the many good things happening in the region.  It represents publicly funded museum collections, Further and Higher Education Institutions, commercial galleries, crafts agencies and practitioners at all stages of their careers. This year’s project will be another bold step forward for the group, aiming to channel the knowledge, skills and enthusiasm in the sector in to a plan that will make the North West Craft Sector and robust and vibrant player in the creative industries of the Northern Powerhouse.

For more information contact the NW Craft Network Co-ordinator, Victoria Scholes at craftnorthwest@gmail.com or +44 (0) 1625 421768

To read more about the North West Craft Network and to see a list of current members of its development team, click here

To join our mailing list, contact craftnorthwest@gmail.com with 'I want to join the NW Craft Network mailing list' in the subject line and we'll add your name. 

Making It : Building your craft future. A day for emerging makers at the Whitworth Art Gallery

The Drayton Egg, James Maskrey

Thursday 5 March 2015
10.30am – 6.30pm followed by Thursday late at the Whitworth 

Join us for a day of talks, workshops, 1:1 enterprise surgeries and networking

Where: The Great Hall, The Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester,  Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6ER. Click here for directions.

Fee: £10

Open to: makers in the first few years of launching or revisiting their contemporary craft practice who are based in the North West of England.


To book your place, click here

Come and hear top speakers addressing what it means to make a living in the craft sector; network with other makers and craft professionals from across the North West; answer questions relating to your creative business and get support to shape your craft future.

Organised by the North West Craft Network in partnership with the Whitworth and Manchester Craft and Design Centre, the day will take place in magnificent setting of the Grand Hall in the newly refurbished Whitworth Art Gallery.

Speakers Halima Cassell, Rachel Kelly and James Maskrey will address what it means to make a living as a creative practitioner, bringing insights from their own creative and business journeys.

Respected maker, educator and thinker in the field of ceramics, CJ O'Neill, will guide you through a reflection on your own practice and create space for relating the information and experiences of the day to your own plans. And Katia Stewart, Talent Development Manager for the Crafts Council Talent Development Team will give her insights from many years supporting and promoting artists in the North.

 For more information about the speakers, click here.

Graffiti-d Installation, CJ O'Neill

Craft professionals from all walks of North West life will be on hand to chat and advise both informally, and also via two 1:1 surgeries.  You'll be able to sign up to put your pressing craft questions to any of these advisors on the day.

1:1 surgery advisors include makers Jane Dzisiewski, Eve Redmond, Nell Smith, Clare Knox-Bentham, Harriet Lawton, Emma Blackburn and Jo Hartley; Beth Hughes, Curator at Lakeland Arts in Cumbria; Sam Rhodes, deputy director at the Bluecoat Display Centre in Liverpool and Ann Marie Franey, co-director and founder of the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair.

To find out more about the 1:1 surgeries and the advisors, click here.

Finish it all off with a glass of wine and conversation at the same time as taking inspiration from the collections as part of the Whitworth's Thursday Late programme.

To book your place, click here 

Questions? Contact Victoria Scholes at craftnorthwest@gmail.com

For an outline of the day, click here.

Organised by the North West Craft Network in partnership with the Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Craft and Design Centre