Bruntwood Riverside Public Art Commission 2019

Bruntwood Riverside Public Art Commission was a large‑scale live project resulting in the commissioning of 15 site‑specific artworks for a Bruntwood building in Manchester. Building on earlier Bruntwood commissions, the project was intentionally scaled to enable wider student participation while maintaining professional standards. Students gained experience in presenting, pitching, budgeting and making, producing contemporary, bespoke works that responded directly to the site and client brief.
The project was underpinned by an ethical approach to commissioning, conscious of the graduate artist ecosystem in Manchester. While supporting students to develop confidence and professional readiness, care was taken not to saturate the market with student commissions, instead using the project to educate clients about commissioning practices and to strengthen pathways towards commissioning work from graduate artists beyond the university. In this way, students gained the process, and the client gained a nuanced understanding of commissioning within a sustainable creative ecology.