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?
I’ve always drawn, painted and made up songs and stories since I was a kid and I’ve carried on doing those things into my adult life. I studied film-making at MMU as a way to bring my stories to life. My main medium now is animation, something I began teaching myself in order to make the documentary feature Rebel Dykes and then went to study at Salford University. I’m fascinated by everyday stories, I believe everyone has a story, not just famous or notable people but everybody; real life experiences and real cultures are worth documenting and preserving. I use animation within my documentary practice to talk about things that maybe can’t be easily filmed: the inner experience, the emotional journey. As an autistic person I’m particularly interested in outsiders, people who might be excluded or overlooked in the mainstream are some of the most interesting people to me. My work looks at community, friendship and the importance of belonging, especially in the context of queerness and mental health.  I’m also in a silly post-punk band called Glimmerpit. We fight back against the general horrors of existence through the medium of sarcasm and noise. I also occasionally work as an illustrator, and very often as a video editor in the adult education sector. 

2. Can you tell us about yourself and your journey as a creative?
Although I’ve always known I’m an artist, and have been lucky enough to have access to arts education, it has been a struggle to remain confident, mentally and physically well, and to  promote my work in order to get more work. I work as a freelancer, as a structured workplace just isn’t accessible to me. The work is very patchy and I need to do other things in between to support myself- mostly draining minimum- wage jobs. I’m physically and often cognitively impacted by chronic health conditions as well, which makes it particularly hard to fill in funding applications or answer open calls. Despite these challenges I have continued to make work. I think my selling point is my unique visual style, and finding a way through stories which is funny, warm and empathic. I see myself as more of a midwife in some ways, you tell me your idea or your story and I help it to be born, shaping into something coherent and beautiful.  Recently I was commissioned by a poet to animate one of her poems, a sweet story about older lesbians on their honeymoon. The resulting short film has been screening in festivals in the UK and further afield, whilst Rebel Dykes screened worldwide and was even on Channel 4, which for a first-time feature with no funding is quite unusual. I’m now working on another film about an undiscovered Spanish artist, animating her paintings to tell her life story. 

3. How has the Salford Centenary project changed how you feel about your own practice?
I was stationed at The Wandering Palate in Monton. I took an audio recorder and a sketchbook. To be honest, I was very nervous about this project, as I can be awkward socially and can get overwhelmed in noisy or busy environments. What this project taught me is that I’m more extroverted than I think, I was able to talk to many people and I got some great stories and even made some new friends. I think it helps that the community at Wandering Palate is made up largely of quite quirky, creative people. It’s a very friendly place where people go to relax and enjoy themselves, and so I was made very welcome. The experience overall has raised my confidence about working in the community and working in a less structured, more journalistic way. I’m excited to go through my memory cards and start weaving stories together from the two days that I was there. 

4. Why do you think the themes of trails, pales and centenary tales are important in   the current social, economic and political environment?
We need each other, we need community. This is particularly true for various marginalised groups, for example LGBTQ+ people are often excluded from their family of origin and must seek a new family, and the pressure on our community has massively increased in recent years for political reasons. But everybody needs friends. Life is hard. I heard a few stories at Wandering Palate of particularly women who had felt isolated after bereavement, or divorce, or kids leaving home, or becoming a mum, whatever it is, they found support through the community of that pub and cafe. We need places to go where people know us. I think pubs and bars get overlooked as a community hub and that’s wrong. We should celebrate the local pub, especially at a time when so many small businesses are going under, where the high street is dying out in many towns. We can’t live our whole lives online, we need to meet and speak to each other.  The other issue with the online world is the echo chamber. You don’t meet your neighbours, who you may disagree with, you meet other people who agree with you. You can’t organise community action like that, you can’t create cohesion like that, you don’t foster tolerance and inclusivity like that. 

5.   What has working with Instigate Arts made possible that wouldn’t have happened otherwise?
Instigate Arts have believed in me in a way I didn’t really believe in myself, and they challenged me to try something outside my comfort zone. They also did the whole paperwork side of this project, which for me is usually a significant barrier.  As a neurodiversity affirming organisation they’ve created a safe space for me to create, with support if I need it, and importantly, they’ve paid me for my work so I haven’t had to try to do this work in spare time around another job. They’ve made it possible for me to actually practice as an artist, in a way I don’t often have the opportunity to do.


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