We’re excited to announce that we’ve successfully passed the next stage in our funding campaign. This means Arts Council England have confirmed a funding commitment of £928,000 from their large scale capital programme towards the £2.5 million we need for the renovation and refurbishment plan that will help us secure a thriving independent future. It also means we can now launch our own fundraising campaign in earnest in order to raise the remaining money.
As well as installing an urgently-needed roof, the renovations will transform the derelict fifth floor and attic space to build new Artist and Maker Residence Spaces that will be the first of their kind in the North West, offering year-round accommodation and workspace for artists from around the world, plus new large-scale work and exhibition spaces and new external elevators and building entrances, making the renovated building fully accessible.
The impact on the local region of these new spaces will be widespread, helping to further locate the North West as a focus for international creativity, offering a solution to the crisis in available artist studio space, and most importantly, securing a bright, sustainable and independent future of possibilities for Islington Mill.
To further boost this project, Salford City Council have pledged an additional £400,000 of funding, and together with other benefactors our current funding total comes to £1,765,000.
We now need your help to raise £735,000 to unlock these funds!
There will be loads of opportunities for people to get involved in the coming months, and it’s already begun with a bang at the sensational Christeene appearance on Friday where we raised £700 in just one night.
The first major stage in our fundraising campaign is Maurice Carlin’s ‘Temporary Custodians’ project, a sale of an artwork installation consisting of 100 unique limited edition prints taken directly from the derelict fifth floor surface of Islington Mill. All funds from sales of these pieces will go towards fundraising. By purchasing a print, buyers directly contribute to the future of the Mill, by donating money and by becoming a ‘Temporary Custodian’ via the artwork – a special ongoing relationship which enables future dialogue and input into the future of the Mill.
We are actively looking for buyers, but also for advocates for the Mill and our fundraising campaign, so please spread our message far and wide, think globally and locally, and let’s reach our goal together.
Read more about the Temporary Custodians project here.
