What We Do

Metal is an arts organisation working at the intersection of art and social change.  

The way we work deeply within communities and on a national and international scale makes us unusual. We currently have sites in Liverpool (since 2004), Peterborough (since 2012) and Southend-on-Sea (since 2007). We were invited to these places by local authorities, Arts Council England and other partners who shared our belief in art’s importance for community building.  

In the last ten years, we’ve supported over 11,000 artists, hosted over 110,000 participants and welcomed over 8 million audience members. This involved making space for artists and creatives to dream, get together and create work; producing magical art events that showed our public spaces and landscape in a different light; convening networks that drove collective creative action and community; supporting new creative programmes, initiatives or organisations to get off the ground; and creating opportunities for people to have a say in art and culture where they live. 

Metal’s artist alumni have gone on to be nominated for or win prizes and large-scale commissions including The Turner Prize. They include Assemble, Beverley Bennett, Delaine La Bas, Elsa James, Kate Marsh, Khaleb Brooks, Lucy + Jorge Orta, Scottee, Syd Moore, Steve Reich, Tim Burrows and many more. 

Over the years, we’ve been part of the founding journey for The Other MA (TOMA), Southend Creative and Culture Network, Peterborough Pride, Peterborough Cultural Alliance, Liverpool Art Prize, Liverpool African Diaspora Film Network, The Old Water Works, a charity in Southend-on-Sea that offers artist studios and Estuary Festival, an interdisciplinary arts festival spanning Essex and Kent.  

Our current national programmes include The Unlonely City, disrupting loneliness by nurturing moments of solidarity, surprise and laughter in UK cities; Metal New Artist Network, a group of 600+ artists in the first four years of practice; and Get a Room, an invitation for artists to get together for kinship, difficult conversations and hanging out.   

All our work is underpinned by research themes: climate and nature; community and connection; social justice.  

Join us on this journey to help dream up new ideas that inspire change. Click here to learn more about our new direction and how you can get involved.