MADE IT is back—with a new identity and a bigger plan for what comes after graduation.
Since launching in 2019, MADE IT has supported emerging artists from across the North West at a pivotal point in their careers.
What began as a graduate exhibition is now growing into a wider platform: combining professional exhibition opportunities with awards, paid commissions, development support and meaningful relationships across the cultural sector.
The new MADE IT reflects that ambition.
It gives the programme a stronger, more confident identity while retaining the purpose that has guided it from the beginning: ensuring the North West’s newest artists are seen, supported and taken seriously.
We’re proud to be building MADE IT’s next chapter alongside a growing network of organisations that believe in emerging artists and want to invest in what comes next.
Tomorrow, we’ll announce the venue for MADE IT 2026 and open applications for our next cohort.
New look. Same aim.
THE STORY OF MADE IT
MADE IT began in 2019 with a simple belief: graduating from art school should feel like a beginning, not an ending.
Created by artist-led organisation Short Supply, MADE IT was developed in response to the difficult gap that often opens after graduation. Degree shows finish, university networks disappear and emerging artists are suddenly expected to navigate exhibitions, opportunities and creative careers alone.
MADE IT set out to create a different kind of next step.
From the beginning, it has brought together graduating artists from across the North West, giving them the opportunity to exhibit beyond their university, meet artists from other institutions and introduce their work to new audiences, curators and cultural organisations.
What started as a graduate exhibition quickly developed into the North West Graduate Art Prize: an artist-led programme combining professional presentation with awards, commissions, visibility and practical career development.
MADE IT is deliberately not tied to a single university or one idea of what a successful graduate practice should look like. It exists to show the range of work emerging across the region and to create connections between artists who may otherwise never meet.
Over successive editions, MADE IT has presented painting, sculpture, installation, photography, textiles, moving image, sound, performance and interdisciplinary work. Each exhibition has been shaped by the artists selected: their ideas, materials, questions and different ways of understanding the world around them.
In 2025, MADE IT was presented at PINK in Stockport, where artists including Curators’ Award winner Freya Donald and CASS ART Award winner Joab Harrison were recognised for their emerging practices.
A bigger next chapter
In 2026, MADE IT has entered a new phase.
With a new identity, an expanding network of partners and a major exhibition coming, the programme is growing beyond a single exhibition into a wider platform for what comes next.
MADE IT 2026 brings together professional exhibition experience, public-art commissions, awards, mentorship, portfolio development and opportunities to build meaningful relationships across the cultural sector. The programme continues to evolve, but its purpose remains the same.
To make sure the North West’s newest artists are seen, supported and taken seriously—not only at the moment they graduate, but as they begin building the practices and careers that follow.