About Us

4 wall hangings on a white gallery wall. they show simple graphic images of objects, using a different colour on each quilt. — 40 Objects for 40 Years

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Craftspace is a charity creating opportunities to see, make and be curious about exceptional contemporary craft.

We are based in Birmingham and work collaboratively regionally, nationally and internationally.

We build relationships between artists, people and organisations and encourage the sharing of ideas, skills and knowledge.

We have 40 years’ experience and continue to learn, push boundaries and challenge ideas.

We are a small team led by our Director, Deirdre Figueiredo MBE.

Celebrating 40 years

Over 40 years, Craftspace have curated and commissioned work by 2500 artists in over 500 exhibitions viewed by 2.8million people working in the Midlands and across the UK, as well as getting around 265000 people making and engaging in meaningful craft interactions.

40 Objects for 40 Years

To celebrate Craftspace’s 40^th Anniversary, we commissioned visual story-teller Stewart Francis Easton to create a quilt series. The 40 objects depicted across the four quilts each play a vital part in telling our story of championing the power of craft to change lives and communities.

Our work

Craftspace initiates artistic programmes which stimulate creative excellence, critical thinking and understanding of contemporary crafts in the widest social and cultural contexts.

Our activities include:

encouraging discussion and training around issues of contemporary craft practice
exhibitions and productions
learning and participatory projects
research
public events
apprenticeships
workshops
working with businesses and community groups
consultancy work

Hands helping an individual place the blade into a piercing saw. — Making Together

Our Impact

Our work brings about positive outcomes for those who take part and their communities. These can be an improved sense of health and wellbeing, confidence, learning new skills or giving a platform to technical expertise and creative excellence. We support entrepreneurship through craft, with particular interest in social and economic impact.

You can support our work for £30 per year by joining Craftspace+, our community of supporters helping us to create extraordinary opportunities for even more people to see, make and be curious about exceptional contemporary craft.

You can search our archive here.

a black mannequin wears a tailored waistcoat and trousers over a white shirt within a lighted exhibition space — Dorcas Stories from the Front Room

Exhibitions for hire

We curate and organise touring exhibitions which are for hire to galleries and other venues nationally and sometimes internationally. To view current opportunities please visit the ‘Exhibitions For hire‘ page.

Consultancy

We work on consultancy projects that reflect our core values and aspirations. These can have the potential to develop as longer term partnerships which are incorporated into our artistic programme. Read more about what we offer and our recent projects here.

Working in Partnership

We have a long track record of building relationships between artists, people and organisations. Craftspace is based in Birmingham and does not have its own venue. We work in partnership with a range of galleries, museums, community venues and organisations to develop and deliver our programme. Find out more about how we work with others here.