University offers breakthrough opportunity for creative practitioner at Beyond Conference

One lucky participant will receive up to £5,000 and have their work showcased at the 2025 Beyond Conference at MediaCity this November as part of a new initiative between the University, Salford Culture and Place Partnership and Better Connected – GM Arts called ‘CreaTech Artist CoLab.’

The initiative will take forward five applicants to a week of workshops and development at the University’s MediaCity campus from Monday 22 to Friday 26 September where they will have the opportunity to test out their ideas in a supported peer-to-peer learning environment whilst also taking part in workshops with leading CreaTech (shortened form of Creative Technology) specialists – Mishka Henner, Vicky Clarke, Noelle Nurdin and Hattie Kongaunruan.

At the end of the week, participants will then pitch their project idea and the University will select one to be further developed and showcased on Day Zero of the Beyond Conference on Monday 24 November. The project will receive the £5k from the University of Salford Art Collection to cover artists’ time and production costs as well as access to the facilities and technical support from the University’s technicians.

Stephanie Fletcher, Curator of The University of Salford Art Collection said: "We are delighted to work with our partners to welcome locally based artists to the brilliant facilities at the University's MediaCity campus.

“The programme offers a much-needed first step for artists to start working with creative technologies - developing their practices in new and exciting ways. As a legacy of the project, we are excited to offer a new commission opportunity for a selected participant (or collective), which will be premiered at the Beyond Conference before entering the University's permanent collection.”

The programme’s remaining participants will all have the opportunity to share their own work as part of wider fringe events at the conference and will receive a free ticket to attend.

This opportunity comes due to the University’s partnership with Beyond, which is returning to MediaCity for a second consecutive year and is the UK’s leading annual conference for research and innovation in the creative industries.

The CreaTech Artist CoLab project is designed to encourage the development of new networks that will accelerate skills locally and also inform a cade study to feature on a forthcoming Salford Culture Place Partnership digital platform which will be available as open access for creatives and help inform future programmes.

Two student observers from the University will also be attending the workshops, giving them the opportunity to see the creative practitioners at work and potentially assist in the development of the initial ideas from the programme’s participants.

Application for the scheme close at midnight on Monday 11 August. For more information on the scheme and how to apply, please click on this link here to take you to The Lowry's website.