Instigate Arts

Instigate Arts understands the difficulties faced by artists in today’s current climate, especially those who are marginalised for reasons of class, gender, sexual orientation and economics. We understand the challenges faced by independent venues across the country. We also know the impact art and ideas have on people’s wellbeing and society as a whole and so create projects intended to support artists and ideas, make new work and make positive social change.

Across June 2025, we sent five artists into five Salford drinking establishments. They were tasked to document folklore, rumours and memories of drinking in Salford pubs. From this each artist will archive stories and create a bespoke artwork to be displayed in the pubs during Salford’s centenary year. On the 14th and 15th August, we will be launching ‘Trails, Pales and Centenary Tales’. A trail map will link all five pubs, guiding visitors between venues.

1.    Tell us about your practice and can you tell us about yourself and your journey as a creative?
I’ve always been really creative. It’s been a way to untangle my mind, to just give myself brain off, I think. Something that I can actually hyper-focus on. I started working with people at quite an early age, working in bars and restaurants and entertaining people, I suppose. Then I went to uni and did a ceramics degree. I soon realised that unless I was a bazillion percent committed, there was no way I would ever make any money being a ceramicist. So I started to make work that people could involve themselves in, then started doing workshops and then I started working with charities I worked for some of these art projects for like 25 years, working with people with mental health problems. And that’s kind of where my creative journey is going. The thing is, there’s no money in making artwork, commissions are very hard to find. What I really struggle with is I really struggle with applying for things because that’s not my forte. You know, I can never get myself across in written words. So difficulties are- accessing information, so finding stuff to apply for and then actually filling in the forms. And if you got me in for an interview, I would probably get the job, if I could just sit down and talk to you about myself and what I do. So that is a struggle. I generally post a lot online, waiting for people to contact me. So I use my kudos, and, you know, 30 years of experience to get me a little job here and there. In the meantime, I do other things for money. 

I teach a couple of days a week. They’re paying me not just for my knowledge but for my absolute therapy skills. I’m an unqualified psychotherapist!. I’m untangling their minds for them. I’m giving them a creative, free safe space to do their work. I’m also being massively encouraging and I’m also really enthusiastic and sensitive to many needs within a group and can tailor a project to fit everybody so everybody achieves something in some way. I don’t just sit down and say, right, let’s draw this. I get people to delve deep, as deep as they want to go with projects. Projects that make people think, projects that make people slow down, projects that have some legs, have something at the end or not. You know, it’s a lot of process-based stuff. So working through things, working things out to find the answer to a project brief, which a lot of people find difficult. But once they get into it, you know, I’ve had the same people in my art groups for 11 years and I have waiting lists which never ever seem to really go down because no one ever leaves. As much as I challenge them, when they find it difficult, they do absolutely love it. They’re buying me. I’m a brilliant, caring, honest person. And they’re also buying a bit of Traë the Artist, you know, that eccentric one, the bit of a weirdo, the different one. They’re buying that. because I’m cool and they want a bit of that for themselves. It’s entertaining.

There’s just no funding anymore. So, you know, people that want to put on little art projects and stuff are just struggling to find the funding and the funding isn’t enough to pay proper artist wages. You know, from my 30 years experience, I would expect like nearly 400 quid a day, you know? People want it for much less and people are so skint that they will do it for much less. So artists have become less valuable, although I think some people are trying to pay artists properly. People pay, what? on average 30 quid for a takeaway? That takes you 15 minutes to eat but they won’t pay me that an hour especially in community arts. You know people buy a painting for like 500 quid, well, they won’t pay me for a project for a weekend for 500 quid. So it’s not sustainable. So we have to find more work which then stops us being able to be creative because we’re busy with all the work or in my case I share all my creativity with my groups so by the time I’ve done teaching all my ideas, my creative juices have been used on them.

2. How has the Salford Centenary project changed how you feel about your own practice?
I’ve been working at The Queen’s Arms, Patricroft. I don’t think it has changed how I feel about my own practice. It’s given me actually some more confidence in what I do. I already thought what I did was really good, but I’ve created a really cool interactive piece that I think is right for the people that go there, that they will understand and it’s a piece that will be part of the venue. It will have longevity. I’m also making them a piece to keep forever. The piece that I’m making is a piece that can be added to by them without me being there. It’s reminded me that I really like to do this, and it’s been fun, and I’d like to do more. It’s so nice to share, like you’ve to include people if you’re included in an art project, you’re more likely to engage with it and view it and, you know, and have fun with it. Create a bit of a talking point and to help a really wonderful community like the Queen’s Arms to raise their profile a bit, to actually let people know what they’re like, what their community is like. It’s not posh, you know, it’s nice. It’s just nice and chill and kind. And to put it on the map, it makes me think of the fact that people don’t just want one thing anymore from their venue. They want nice drinks. They want a good atmosphere. They want to put artistic pictures of it on Instagram. They want it all there for them.

3. Why do you think the themes of trails, pales and centenary tales are important in   the current social, economic and political environment?
This is a really great idea because people now want to do more wholesome things. There’s a big movement in, you know, wholesomeness. So, you know, walking, doing art, going to a pub and being able to go and find something interesting. They want more than just drinks and, you know, getting pissed, a lot of people. Which is very expensive these days.

So people are trying to find more things to do and I think people do want to know about their area and I think we’re all skint, so we can’t just afford to go to the pub but if you’ve got like a walk to do something, you know, it’s free. We’re all looking for free stuff, you know, we’ve all done Manchester Museum, we’ve all done the Mosey, we’ve all done everything like that. You know what’s new? What can we show people? What small things can we put on the trail so people can you know go and have a look at it, so it’s not just massive big installations and stuff it’s little things which might make people look at their world a bit more in a creative way, or see smaller things, see beauty and in just regular things. People just want to have a bit of respite from the shitty world- a little walk and a look at something like a little adventure trail or a treasure map, things like that, fun!

4. What has working with Instigate Arts made possible that wouldn’t have happened otherwise?
I wouldn’t have seen this project, I wouldn’t have applied for it, I wouldn’t have found the funding for it, so to have kind of a body that finds those things, that applies those things takes all these shitty bits. out of being an artist I hate to do and will not do and does it for you is brilliant. As an artist I’m just given the chance to just be an artist so it’s an extremely important organisation because they do the legwork and they’re all artists so they get it and it’s a very supportive CIC to work with everybody’s different, everybody is gets it, they’re kind and they understand how different brains work. I’m autistic and dyslexic. It’s been a great opportunity and they’ve done all the work that I find difficult. They’re the artist’s voice.

Read profiles of all of the Instigate Arts Salford 100 artists here.