World-class artist development hub 'HOME Arches' opens to support Manchester's emerging artists and cultural scene
A new artistic hub that will help democratise access to the arts in our region has been opened. HOME Arches is part funded by our strategic partner Manchester City Council and will support emerging artists to boost our city's cultural credentials.
HOME Arches, Manchester’s new world class, free-to-use, artist development hub and public realm gallery, spread across three arches on Whitworth Street West, has opened its doors with a creative launch showcasing some of the first theatre makers, visual artists and filmmakers to use the space.
The 258 sqm hub, which is part of HOME, Manchester’s premier arts centre, and a registered charity, will help democratise access to the arts by offering 5,000 free hours of making, studio and development space for artists and creative freelancers each year, with space for residencies, supported co-working and networking opportunities, plus access to technical equipment and expertise.
50% of this space is dedicated to artists from groups currently underrepresented in the industry, including members of the Global Majority, d/Deaf and disabled artists, and artists from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
HOME Arches is funded by the UK Government and our strategic partner Manchester City Council alongside The Wolfson Foundation, Ask Real Estate, The Foyle Foundation, The Granada Foundation alongside trust, corporate, individual and anonymous contributors to support the growth and development of the cultural sector and ensure access to the cultural offer, as well as Robertson Construction North West as the main contractor.
Installations from socially engaged, interdisciplinary artist and producer, Sophie Mahon, and Omid Asad, a visual artist born and raised in Iran and now based in Manchester, will be the first to show in the space, and Afreena Islam-Wright will deliver a one off performance of her show LUCKY TONIGHT! which features in this year’s PUSH Festival at HOME.
All three artists showcased are from the 'At HOME with Jerwood’ 12 month residency programme, funded by the Jerwood Foundation, which supports cross art form artists making a step-change in their practice and career.
HOME Arches will now house HOME’s impactful artist development programme, which already works with more than 1000 artists per year, allowing it to reach its full potential, becoming the centre’s ‘Engine Room’ and inspiring HOME’s public programme and beyond.
HOME Arches will create a vibrant and diverse artistic ecology within the North-West where artists can thrive, supporting the clear need for additional, affordable productive workspace in the city centre; it will be open to all creatives and will fully integrate with HOME’s existing programme.
The Arches will also provide vital support for flagship projects such as PUSH Festival, HOME's biennial celebration of North West creative talent, providing spaces to make and test work, a place for artists to come together to share learning, a hub during the festival for workshops, talks and skills sharing.
Whilst primarily a development space for artists to explore and test new ideas, the hub also houses Arches Windows, a custom built public realm exhibition space that will present an ever changing range of work from sculptural to digital, permanently visible to the public from Whitworth Street West.
Omid Asad’s opening show is a stained glass infusion of colour and light, which will take inspiration from the building’s form and structure and imbue it with vibrancy and life. The coming months will see work from sculptural artist, Maisie Pritchard, created through workshops, and prolific public artist Venessa Scott who is also part of HOME’s Artist Panel.
HOME Arches was designed in collaboration with HOME’s Artist Panel, and consultation with the wider artistic community, has three main spaces.
The central Arch 2, newly-named the 'Sir Bob Scott Arch' to honour one of HOME’s greatest supporters, former Chair of the Granada Foundation, is entered directly from HOME, and houses co-working, meeting and networking space for artists, including a meeting/quiet room, IT facilities, lockers and kitchen, plus access to Arches 1 and 3.
Arch 1 features a fully equipped studio space for up to 60 people, a space for artists to explore their practice and test new ideas. It is a double height, flexible space with black-out capability, a high level of soundproofing, as well as facilities including a sprung dance floor and lighting/sound rig, showers and toilets.
Arch 3 is a double height, creative making facility for up to 30 artists to collaborate across disciplines, creating work in an environment made for experimentation.
Karen O’Neill, CEO of HOME, comments: “Since opening in 2015, HOME has been committed to supporting, investing in, and providing opportunities for artists across Greater Manchester and the North, from weekly drop-in sessions to commissions across theatre, film and visual arts. HOME Arches has been a key part of our strategy for artists’ development for many years, so to be opening these new spaces in 2025, our 10-year anniversary, is really special.
“HOME Arches will provide high quality free space and facilities for artists to develop work, create, share ideas and continue to be supported by HOME’s Artist Development programmes. The investment and support for the Arches by our funders, donors and supporters confirms that Manchester values culture, and the city continues to grow as a place that artists and creativity can thrive in. HOME is excited for the Arches to be part of Manchester’s world leading cultural sector.”
Councillor Garry Bridges, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: "Culture plays a huge part in the success of Manchester and is a massive draw for visitors from around the globe, as well as helping attract people to live, work and study here.
"Supporting local artists and creative communities is therefore really important to us and is an integral part of our ten-year cultural ambition plan for Manchester that we launched last year.
"We know how important it is to have places artists can work, create and collaborate with others in, and the HOME arches provide just that. It's brilliant then to see these previously un-used spaces brought back into life, providing vital space and new opportunities in the heart of the city for our immensely talented and fast-growing community of creatives whose work helps showcase Manchester to the world."
The Granada Foundation, comments: “The Granada Foundation is delighted to be able to mark Sir Bob Scott's many years of supporting culture in the North West by naming the Central Arch of this transformational HOME Arches development in his honour. It is a wonderful way to recognise his work in the region on so many fronts and of course his strong support for HOME, and Cornerhouse before that, during his 40 years as Chair of our Foundation.
“The Granada Foundation is dedicated to continuing its work to support arts and science organisations in our region in the years to come under the guidance of our new Chair, Dr Virginia Tandy OBE.”
The Artist Panel fed into the design and fit out, took part in programming and developing processes for the spaces, in addition to acting as advocates for the project, and leading on wider consultation with the artistic community. It includes theatre maker Afreena Islam-Wright, artist who can code Lisa Mattocks, film producer Loran Dunn, artist-curator Luca Shaw, director, producer, choreographer, and vogue house mother Darren Pritchard, Latinx British-Bolivian theatre-maker, movement director and actor Jenni Jackson, public artist Venessa Scott, artist and creative technologist Dan Hett and actor and Co-Creative Lead of TripleC Cherylee Houston MBE.
Artists who would like to find out more about HOME Arches can do so by contacting the Artist Development team on artistdevelopment@homemcr.org