Apply for a fully funded Associates Membership

Castlefield Gallery Associates is a membership scheme for artists, writers and independent creatives working in contemporary visual art. 

It acts as a hub, bringing together creative practitioners and providing members with information, skills development, opportunities, resources and critical dialogue around contemporary art practice. We host monthly in person and online events that are devised in response to our wider gallery programme and reflect the needs and interests of our associates, artists and creatives involved.

We are currently growing the membership offer and are keen to engage with artists and creatives who identify with one or more of the following: 

– Being from a low socio-economic background
– Disabled or with a long-term health condition
– Being from the Global Majority
– Being neurodiverse

To help us grow Castlefield Gallery Associates the Haworth Trust and Manchester City Council are funding 30 new memberships for 12 months. If you would like to develop your creative practice and participate in Castlefield Gallery Associates programme you can apply for one of the following fully funded membership places:

– 15 places available for artists and creatives based in Greater Manchester and the wider North West region.
– 15 places available for artists and creatives based in either the city of Manchester, elsewhere in the UK or internationally. 

Being a Castlefield Gallery Associate gives you access to: 

– Talks with visiting artists, writers & curators
– One-to-one advisory sessions with Castlefield Gallery Directors
– Exchanges with other associate schemes & artist membership groups across the UK
– The opportunity to apply for Castlefield Gallery Associates Members Exhibition
– Access to free temporary work and project space with Castlefield Gallery’s New Art Spaces scheme
– Workshops and talks centred on creative professional development, helping members to communicate their practice, learn about applying for funding as well as writing exhibition proposals and responding to call outs. 

and much more. 

Our fully funded Associate places are a key part of Castlefield Gallery’s commitment to supporting artists, building creative communities – and making new art happen.  

Please note the funded places are limited and we wish to prioritise those who are on a low income who could not otherwise afford to participate in the programme. Do consider if the £5 monthly membership fee is something that would be affordable for you before applying. 

*If you are currently a Castlefield Gallery Associate  you can still apply for a funded place. If successful we will extend your current membership for 12 months. If you have any questions please contact Laura Mansfield on  associates@castlefieldgallery.co.uk or 0161 832 8034. If you reach our voicemail please ensure you leave your full name and contact details so we can return your call. Please allow 3 working days for us to get back to you. 

To Apply

We recognise that application writing takes time and effort that is unpaid labour. As such we have tried to keep the application process as simple as possible. 

Please fill out this online form –  https://bit.ly/3TY2W0M

The form asks for brief personal information and 5 sentences that ask why you feel you would benefit from joining the scheme at this moment in time.

A pdf of the form is available to download here

If you would rather submit your application by video or audio recording please answer the questions in the application form accessed by the link above and place all files in an email to associates@castlefieldgallery.co.uk with the subject line Funded Associate Membership.

If you would prefer, you are welcome to print out the form and fill in by hand, returning to the gallery by email or post. We are also able to post a printed copy of the application form to you – just contact us with your address. Please remember to post completed application forms in advance of the deadline as we can not accept applications received after the advertised date (12th May). 

If you have any access requirements you wish to discuss and/or need support with please get in touch with us at associates@castlefieldgallery.co.uk

Tel. 0161 832 8034 If you reach our voicemail please ensure you leave your full name and contact details so we can return your call. Please allow 3 working days for us to get back to you. 

The deadline for submission is 5pm on Friday 12th May 

We are working with a small group of current Castlefield Gallery Associates to help allocate the funded memberships. 

We will contact everyone who applied by Friday 26th of May but unfortunately we are unable to offer feedback.