OUR
PROGRAMMES
Short Supply designs and delivers programmes that turn creative ambition into paid, sustainable careers. Each programme responds to a clear gap in the creative industries — from the lack of transparent routes into work, to the over‑reliance on unpaid labour and London‑centric networks.
Our work sits at the intersection of skills, opportunity, and fair pay, supporting early‑career artists to move from education or self‑taught practice into long‑term professional livelihoods.
ShortCut Sessions
Skills training for sustainable careers
ShortCut Sessions are practical, skills‑focused workshops supporting early‑career artists to navigate the realities of working in the creative industries. The programme bridges the gap between education and paid work.
Sessions cover topics such as:
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Pricing and valuing creative labour
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Contracts, negotiations, and professional boundaries
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Marketing, digital strategy, and audience building
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Funding, commissions, and project planning
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Career planning beyond traditional gallery routes
ShortCut Sessions are delivered both online and in person, ensuring access for artists based outside major cities. The programme has supported hundreds of artists to secure paid work, increase confidence, and build sustainable income streams.
"I can't actually believe what we were able to achieve in such a short space of time. I started the session quite skeptical, as I am really not confident on social media, but by the end of it I felt totally different and actually excited to get back on it!" — Zara, Manchester artist
MADE IT-
Graduate Art Prize
Annual platform for emerging artists
The MADE IT Graduate Art Prize supports artists at a critical early‑career stage, providing paid opportunities, visibility, and professional development beyond graduation.
The programme includes:
Open national call‑outs
Paid exhibition opportunities
Prize funding and commissions
Professional development and sector exposure
MADE IT challenges extractive graduate exhibition models by centring fair pay, transparency, and long‑term progression. It has become a recognised national platform for discovering and supporting emerging talent outside London.
Exhibitions, Commissions & Opportunities
Opportunities with long‑term impact
Alongside our core programmes, Short Supply delivers exhibitions, commissions, and artist opportunities in partnership with galleries, local authorities, and cultural organisations.
These opportunities:
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Pay artists fairly for their time and work
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Use transparent selection processes
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Prioritise artists from underrepresented backgrounds
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Create pathways to further work, not just exposure
This strand of activity ensures that artists can apply skills learned through our programmes in real‑world, paid contexts. Our opportunities translate skills into experience through exhibitions, commissions, and partnerships designed to support long-term career progression.
UP NEXT -
Rolling Billboard
Exhibition
Short Supply x BuildHollywood
JACK ARTS and Short Supply are teaming up to put emerging creativity where it belongs: on the streets. Backed by BUILDHOLLYWOOD’s city-wide poster network, this project gives artists the chance to take over public space with bold, original work — no brands, no gatekeeping. Through a rolling programme of 4-sheet displays which started in Manchester and has extended UK-wide, Up Next invites the next wave of artists to show what they’re making now, what they care about, and what’s coming next — using the city itself as the gallery.
Skip Art Challenge
- Commissioned Public Art Project
Short Supply x Browns Recycling
The Skip Art Challenge was a public art commission developed by Short Supply in partnership with Browns Recycling, bringing together artistic practice, environmental sustainability and community engagement. Ten artists were commissioned to transform working recycling skips into large-scale artworks, giving new life to functional objects that would otherwise be overlooked.
The skips were temporarily installed in prominent public locations, including Piccadilly and Hanley High Street, before returning to active use within local communities. The project celebrated reuse and repair, highlighted Browns Recycling’s zero-waste commitment, and demonstrated how art can animate everyday infrastructure. All proceeds from the campaign were donated to Dougie Mac Hospice, linking creative practice to tangible social benefit while showcasing how artists can contribute to environmental awareness and civic pride.
Where We Gather -
Publicly Commissioned
Live Performance
Manchester Art Gallery x Iniva x Short Supply
Rehearsal Methods was a publicly commissioned live performance presented by Iniva, Short Supply and Proforma, marking the first in-person presentation of a work by Jade Montserrat originally developed as part of Manchester Art Gallery’s Future Collect Commission. Staged outside Manchester Central Library and recruiting dozens of artists to contribute to DIY documentation of the piece, the performance activated a civic public space through choral participation, drawing and embodied practice, inviting passers-by to engage with themes of care, collectivity and resistance.
Looking Ahead
As demand for our work continues to grow, we are expanding our programmes across the North of England and developing new delivery models that can be replicated nationally.
Our long‑term ambition is to build a recognised alternative pathway into the creative industries — one that values artists as workers, supports regional talent, and contributes to stronger, more inclusive creative economies.