October Salon: Artist-Led Communal Creative Space

Funded on
02 Apr 2026

October Salon is an open collective of artists, transforming disused spaces into usable communal creative places. We provide a meeting place for artists and advocate for local creative opportunities.

£11,832 Raised of £11,775

28 Backers

100%

Costs

Space (rent) £6,999
Volunteer Hours (£12.21 per hour) £2,198
Exhibition Curation £729
Artist pay for workshops that engage people with the site and city £729
Volunteer Subsistence Travel £336
Social Media Marketing £300
Volunteer Subsistence Meal £204
Consumables, tea, coffee, toilet roll, cleaning supplies etc £100
Target: (inc. fees) £11,775

http://www.instagram.com/october_salon

I am a socially engaged artist with a performative, tactile and research based practice. In 2023 I graduated with first class honours in BA Fine Art at Liverpool John Moores. In my hometown of Preston, it was difficult to find available studio space, so I rented a place in Lancaster at Assembly Arts. During this period I found myself always looking back, considering why the long travel from home to make art? For me, having a robust creative practice is dependant on being able to work alongside other artists and share ideas; since The Birley was at full capacity, this felt unfeasible in Preston. After rich cultural offerings in Liverpool and then Lancaster, the discrimination bothered me. I left AA returning home, intending to gather creatives to make more accessible space in Preston.
In Summer 2025, I produced the Open Call And Response exhibition at Snapes Printworks. This self-initiated project was designed to find practicing artists and bring them to work alongside one another. The call out invited artists to visit the heritage building and make art responding to the site. Culminating in an exhibition, the work was curated organically with participating artists. We exhibited 29 new artworks by 32 artists. A number of artists who met during this process enjoyed the experience and wanted to continue working alongside one another. This is how October Salon came to be.
Alongside my social-weaving practice in Preston, I continue to engage culturally around the North West. In Feb 25 I visited Signal Film & Media in Barrow to take part in A Guide To Gentle Protest, a weekend workshop considering how to engage with materials to think critically about location. In June 25 I performed a collaborative work, soop, at the opening of The Independent’s Biennial in Port Sunlight; part of Unstable by Ghost Art School. In Dec 25 The Grundy in Blackpool exhibited my film Dredging and Disorientation; part of their collaboration with SFM which invited artists to respond to the Sankey photographic archive.
Since Summer 2025 I have been an active member of the UP infrastructure planning group for Preston's independent creative sector. October Salon supports this plan, particularly "Pillar 4 - connect and collaborate”. We provide space for the community to discuss and develop practical methods to move forwards. I am very grateful to Brewtime for their ongoing support and start-up funding for October Salon; their arts advocacy work informs the direction the space will take.

Project Owner: Hans Browne The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.