Projects
A snapshot of our current projects and initiatives across Greater Manchester
Arts In-Access 2025-26
Launched in November 2025, at the ‘Everybody, Everywhere’ event at The Lowry in Salford, Arts-InAccess is GM Arts’ 1-year project to kick-start a long-term radical shift to embed access, inclusion & collaboration into cultural commissioning across the city region.
We will co-create a bold shared vision.
Through training, partnerships and immersive learning AIA will unlock equitable opportunities for creatives with lived experience of ableism, racism, homophobia or classism, catalysing Greater Manchester to be a beacon of best practice in fostering & commissioning diverse talent.
Visit our News page for the latest updates and opportunities.
Arts In-Access is supported by Arts Council England.
Our Creative Spirit 2023-2026
A three-year programme of creative commissions and co-creation modelling with communities in Oldham, Salford, Tameside and Stockport, thanks to support from GMCA Culture Fund. Read on below to find out more:
Tameside
2023-24: Tameside Metropolitan Council worked with Global Grooves, an artist-led Carnival arts organisation based in Mossley with over 20 years practical experience, to create ‘Maude’ - a new puppet for future use by the local Stalybridge community, as a friend to the Mill Boy puppet being created as part of Emergency Exit Art’s Heritage Action Zone project. The friend for Mill Boy was unveiled at WEAVE on 9th September 2023 in Stalybridge as one of the town’s gifts to Farah the Fox.
2024-25: Tameside Metropolitan Council commissioned Artist R&D with Big Imaginations, supporting Alicia McKenzie (pictured) & Adam Blake to develop new theatre work for young audiences. Productions have toured across the North West in 2025.
2025-26: A new commission with collage artist Sarah Hardacre will delve into the boroughs history of morris dancing, through community workshops and contemporary making.
Oldham
2023-2024: Oldham Council commissioned Designs in Air, a pioneering inflatable design company who create original inflatable sculptures and spectacular installations, to install Ocean Drifters at Gallery Oldham, an immersive installation of jellyfish sculptures and otherworldly underwater creatures. The commission enabled Oldham to test touring models for inflatable artworks.
2024-25: Oldham Theatre Workshop and Illuminos were commissioned to work together to bring visuals projection-mapped onto the Old Town Hall for Illuminate festival, alongside a seamless music and theatre performance centred around a musical journey through time across four generations of a family.
2025-26: GM Arts and Oldham Council jointly supported* XTRAX to commission Global Grooves’ spectacular contribution to La Merce festival in Barcelona. ‘Worker Bee Becomes Queen’ (pictured) included blended dance traditions, a new musical score and giant puppets. The performance will return to Oldham in February 2026.
*Supporters included GM Arts, Oldham Council, Tameside MBC, Manchester City Council, Arts Council England and GMCA.
Stockport
2023-2026: As part of the ambitious Stockport Creative Campus project, and new arts centre Stockroom, GM Arts, Stockport Council and Future Everything have commissioned artist Di Maidstone to develop a new digital artwork, co-created with local residents through interviews and creation of their own decorated root (pictured). Community responses have driven the narrative and mood of the final digital artwork which is currently being presented at the opening of Stockroom in 2025.
Following a second call out in Spring 2025, GM Arts, Stockport Council and Future Everything have commissioned ‘Decolonial Cleaning’ - a sound, art and ecology project by interdisciplinary artist Maya Chowdhry, inviting Stockport communities to reimagine ecological restoration through a decolonial lens. Taking the former Millgate Power Station site as both subject and metaphor, the project explores hidden histories, environmental injustice, and the relationships between humans and more-than-human life. The resulting installation will be presented in Stockport town centre in February – March 2026.
Salford
2024-2025: Salford Community Leisure and GM Arts commissioned Breaking Barriers Rochdale in 2024 to create ‘What About Me?’ to explore the thoughts, feelings and stories of young people in Salford. Youth Voice was at the centre of the creation process, with a new Young Company (pictured) leading on the production of the creative work.
What About Me? became an immersive visual and audio experience which took audiences around Parr Fold Park in October 2025. Stories of local young people came to life through audio, film, and photography in a spectacular takeover of Parr Fold Park, bringing the streets of Salford and the tower block skyline to the natural environment.
Did you know that the ten districts of Greater Manchester have been working together to commission, support and deliver activities with and for our local communities for 20 years? Find out more about our past projects, collaborations and programmes.
More people, more creative, more often.
GM Arts is a consortium of the ten districts of Greater Manchester who collaborate on a mission to increase creative opportunities for our communities. We were established over 20 years ago, but our vision for creativity and culture is bold and fresh.
© 2025 GM Arts Network.
