Join us for Forge, a brand new development day for craftmakers, designer-makers and contemporary visual artists.
The event features a mix of panel talks, advice sessions and portfolio discussions that aim to inform and inspire, looking at the opportunities and challenges of developing and sustaining a creative business.
Tickets: £20 / £15 - book here or call 0161 912 5616.
Our panel - Samantha Rhodes (Gallery Director, Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool), Lillie Tew (artist and curator) and artist Daisy Fulton (artist) - will explore the outlook for emerging and established designer-makers and contemporary visual artists, advising on how to develop your business and the make the most of new opportunities.
Our talks include:
Artist Showcase
Painter Nancy Collantine discusses her work and how she’s developed opportunities through DIY Projects, creative sidelines and building networks.
Practices of Balance
Practices which span multiple disciplines face challenges but also enjoy great benefits. Through examples from her own work across sculpture and jewellery, Katherine James will lead this session to explore ways to navigate this balance both commercially and creatively. Through these experiences, she has also developed approaches to share which have help to re-frame and develop her philosophy of making.
Because the Straw was the Problem
Artist Nerissa Cargill Thompson presents a guide for how to embed sustainability into a creative practice.
Our Long Goodbye: The Process & They Journey
Artist Jenny Harris explains how her exhibition was developed and funded in this practical guide to fundraising for artists.
Portfolio Discussion Space
Throughout the afternoon, Samantha Rhodes and Lillie Tew will be on hand on in our Portfolio Discussion Space to offer informal advice and feedback on your portfolio questions. Bring your portfolio in print, on tablet or laptop for this opportunity to get your questions answered.
Please note: this is designed as a relaxed, drop-in space and participation is optional.
Schedule
10:00 - arrival & registration
10:30 - introductions
10:45 - The State of the Arts panel discussion
11:45 - Artist Showcase - Nancy Collantine
12:15 - lunch
13:00 - Practices of Balance talk
14:00 - break
14:15 - Because The Straw Was The Problem talk
15:15 - break
15:30 - Our Long Goodbye talk
16:30 - ends
The Portfolio Discussion Space will run parallel to the talks programme in a separate space. This is an informal, drop-in format with no booking necessary.
Please note lunch is not provided so please bring your own refreshments. Snacks and drinks are available from Waterside’s Sup Bar.
About The Speakers
Nerissa Cargill Thompson (artist)
Nerissa Cargill Thompson creates contemporary textile art and mixed-media sculptures that explore juxtapositions of texture and colour, particularly where nature meets manmade. She blends and embroiders recycled fabrics to produce her signature textiles and highlights environmental issues by casting these with concrete in waste packaging to form future fossils.
https://www.ncargillthompson.co.uk
Instagram - @nerissact
Nancy Collantine (artist)
Nan Collantine is a recipient of the Castlefield Gallery Award and finalist in the 2022 Beep Painting Prize. After completing an art foundation in 1990, she worked in advertising and communications in the city for 25 years. From 2020-22 she completed two years mentorship with the Turps Banana Correspondence Course 2019-22 and she is a former student of alternative art school, the Islingon Mill Art Academy in Salford.
It was whilst living in Australia from 2016-17 that Nan returned to her art practice and became immersed in Australian landscape painting, citing Nongirrna Marawili, Tony Tuckson, Brett Whiteley, Aida Tomescu, Fed Williams and John Olsen as significant influences in her own work which explores the human connection to landscape.
Instagram - @nancollantine
Daisy Fulton (artist)
Daisy Fulton is a Manchester-based visual artist specialising in painting. She is nearing the end of her BA in Fine Art at Manchester School of Art, which has included a study abroad at the Willem de Kooning Academy in the Netherlands and a full-time work placement at Waterside Arts in Sale. She has exhibited at many galleries including Bankley Gallery and Saan1. Daisy is a Castlefield Gallery Associate, and was recently awarded the Jackson’s Art Prize Student Award.
Daisy Fulton is interested in how paintings take shape. She is guided by intuitive responses gained through continuous material experimentation, engaging with the physicality of paint and the evolving process of making. Linked to personal memories and recollections, Fulton’s work is suggestive of spaces, places and things, where a painterly tension between surface texture, shape, line, tone and motif renders the paintings undefinable yet strangely familiar. Thicker, denser inner sections or subjects contrast with smooth and calm areas across her compositional mappings and structures, generating a blend of unfolding moments, hinting at depth whilst always denying it.
Instagram - @daisyfultonart
Jenny Harris (artist)
Jenny Harris is a drama practitioner based in Manchester who works with groups of all ages and abilities using drama and storytelling to promote well-being, connection and inclusion.
In 2023, she received funding from Arts Council England which enabled her to work with writer Lowri Evans and filmmaker Hilary Easter Jones to explore images of her Mum who is living with Alzheimer's. The 'Our Long Goodbye' exhibition is now touring in 2025 to four venues in the North West. Jenny was a finalist in the Manchester Culture Awards for her work on the exhibition.
https://ourlonggoodbye.co.uk/about/
Instagram - @ourlonggoodbye2025
Katherine James (artist)
Katherine is best known for her contemporary re-imaginings of chainmail. She has created multiple collections across jewellery and sculpture which alter the symbol of armour, questioning ideas of resilience and gender ideology. Her pieces have been exhibited at Leeds Art Gallery, London Craft Week, The Crafts Council Gallery, and been stocked with Diana Porter Jewellery, The Royal Armouries and Fruitmarket Gallery.
She gained a BA in Art & Design from the University Leeds, then went on to complete the Crafting Business Programme with the Crafts Council. She is currently undertaking a “Developing Your Creative Practice” project with Arts Council funding.
https://www.studiokatherinejames.com
Instagram - @studio_katherine_james
Samantha Rhodes (Bluecoat Display Centre)
Samantha is the Director of the Bluecoat Display Centre, one of the countries earliest independent craft galleries located for 66 years in the Bluecoat, Liverpool. She has more than 30 years' experience working in the contemporary craft sector and a broad knowledge of craft makers and their practice. She has supported the careers of hundreds of makers and has curated exhibitions over many years at the Bluecoat Display Centre and has co-curated temporary craft exhibitions including Collect at the V&A and Saatchi Gallery as well as internationally in the USA.
Samantha is a member of the steering group for the North West Craft Network, a gathering of North West curators, museums, art educators and organisations, collectors and makers which aim to grow the craft market, build audiences, increase revenue, incubate makers and keep our craft talent working and showing in the region.
https://bluecoatdisplaycentre.com/about-us/gallery-team/
Instagram - @the_bluecoat
Lillie Tew (artist and curator)
Lillie Tew is a dedicated curator who deepened her art journey by pursuing an MA in Contemporary Curating in 2021 after completing her BA in Three-Dimensional Design at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2019. Her practice and MA studies explore diverse process-led practices within site-specific contexts.
In her role as Associate Curator at Pavement Gallery, Manchester, Lillie co-curated and co-produced an exciting gallery and artist talk programme featuring esteemed international Contemporary artists. She was instrumental in the production and creative contributions for Pavement Quarterly's second edition, the gallery's curatorial publication, aligning her poem 'twenty four seven' with her curatorial emphasis on art and audience dynamics.
Instagram - @lillietew.ceramics
Instagram - @lillietew.curatorial
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Forge image - thanks to Rowan Ticklish for kind use of the ‘forge’ layer in our graphic.