A new gallery could soon open its doors in Manchester, as a local events organiser announces plans to start their own venue.
Cotton On MCR, established torchbearers for Manchester-grown artists, today launched a Go Fund Me page to raise money to open a community art space called ‘Neighbourhood Gallery’.
If successful, it would be the first gallery opened in the city since 2020.
Domino Panton-Oakley, Cotton On MCR’s founder, said: “If it happens, I think I’ll just scream and cry. It would be unbelievable if we had our own space. It’s a really big dream of ours.
“I’m super excited and just really, really hope that people follow us in this journey and support us.”
Since 2022, the organisers have been platforming local artists in pop-up exhibitions and workshops in different venues around the city.
“But this year, we’ve really struggled with finding venues that work to build the events that we want to host,” Panton-Oakley told Mancunian Matters.
“We’ve got so many more event ideas and exhibition ideas that we want to do. But because we have to rely on hiring other people’s venues, we just can’t ever do them all.”
Cotton On MCR are hoping to launch the venue this autumn. Domino and her husband Peter Oakley want to create an “inclusive, multi-use art space” with workshops, an art shop and peer group events for budding Manchester artists.
Panton-Oakley said: “We’re calling it Neighbourhood Gallery because we want this to be for the local art community.”
But it’s also a way to make creativity more accessible to the general public.
She said: “One of Cotton On Manchester’s passions is to get people involved in art in different ways – even if they might not necessarily call themselves art fans. We want to make it a space that is welcoming and open to everyone.”
The organisation started life as a blog and an escape from the every-day boredom of an office job – but quickly grew into something bigger, Panton-Oakley explained.
“I’m excited and nervous. I had the idea for a while but I was just too scared to do anything with it, because it’s such a big project. It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever done.”
Cotton On MCR are asking for donations on their Go Fund Me page here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/neighbourhoodgallery.
Photos by: Peter Oakley
