Great Northern Graduates is an ongoing collaborative project between Creative Industries Trafford (CIT) and the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair (GNCCF) intended to create meaningful exhibition opportunities for visual arts graduates, predominantly from courses in the north of the UK.
Launched in 2010, the original Great Northern Graduates became an established contemporary craft exhibition within the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair for nine years. Since 2024, CIT and GNCCF have collaborated to reintroduce Great Northern Graduates, reimagining it into a rolling programme for selected graduates to showcase their emerging collections across the two venues in various forms.
Both CIT and GNCCF are passionate about supporting the next generation of visual artists, offering them the chance to present their work in high quality showcases whilst creating a chance for visitors to see and buy from the strongest graduate talent.
Here at Waterside Arts, Great Northern Graduates is now a biennial celebration of graduate talent across our three exhibition spaces; showing applied arts in The Lauriston Gallery, photography in Gallery ’74 and moving image in Screenlight.
The contemporary craft exhibition in the Lauriston Gallery includes work from the recipients of the 2024 and 2025 Creative Industries Trafford Development Award, selected from the BA (Hons) Product Design & Craft course at Manchester School of Art and awarded for their distinctive approach to their individual crafts. The next Great Northern Graduates showcase will take place at GNCCF from 15 - 18 October 2026 at Victoria Baths.
For the first time work has been selected from artists graduating from BA (Hons) Fine Art at Manchester School of Art – the exciting cross over between high quality contemporary craft and fine art was notable throughout the 2025 degree shows. Additionally, the quality of ceramics was especially high and this is evident in the selections for this year’s show.
New for 2026, Great Northern Graduates includes the work of two selected photography graduates from the BA (Hons) Photography at Manchester School of Art in Gallery ‘74. Both selected fine art photographers stood out for their individual styles and use of alternative printing techniques to achieve the distinctive characteristics of their projects.
Applied Arts – Lauriston Gallery
Amber Jones / Ceramics
Amy Bradnock / Ceramics
Cameron Pearson / Blacksmithing
Jessica Mok / Ceramics
Katie Quinsee / Jewellery
Mali Non Robertson / Sculpture
Nova Smith / Metalsmithing
Rio Darwin / Ceramics
Sam Holmes / Jewellery
Victoria Pearce / Jewellery
Photography – Gallery ‘74
Isabel Hollingworth
Thomas Holloway
