Manchester Craft and Design Centre

We have been commissioned to reimagine Manchester Design and Craft Centre’s practice and purpose as a meeting point between cutting-edge creative practice, social making, community participation, and diverse cultures. Building on their strong heritage, we will work closely with their Board, staff, and resident artists to revisit their drivers and become more financially resilient, reflective of Manchester’s vibrant cultures, and environmentally sustainable.

Manchester Craft and Design (MCAD) is located in the historic Victorian fish and poultry market building in the Northern Quarter of Manchester and is at the heart of an innovative creative community. Like many organisations, they have taken this unique moment in time to reflect on how they should adapt to better serve their communities of interest, identifying the rapidly changing retail landscape, the need for greater accessibility, and increased diversity, as barriers hindering the incredible potential of their building and it’s activities.

Supported by Arts Council England’s Cultural Recovery Fund, we are working closely with MCAD’s committed team to shape a new vision for the organisation, as a pillar in the community that supports emerging artists and connects local communities to contemporary craft and creative people, and helps the historic building recognises it’s full potential and sustainable future.

Our approach will be creative, collaborative and supportive — using tried and tested consultation methods and strategic tools to help define and set MCAD’S new vision, mission, and values. Afterward, we will create a series of objectives that take forward positive existing activity and seemlessly weave it together with the organisation’s newfound direction and activity, providing MCAD with a clear critical path for taking their new proposition forward. By the end of our commission we will provide MCAD with the necessary tools at their disposal to achieve their new objective.