MADE IT 2026: The North West Graduate Art Prize

MADE IT 2026 brings together some of the North West’s most exciting emerging artists for a major group exhibition at The Whitaker, celebrating the region’s next generation of creative talent. About MADE IT 2026: The North West Graduate Art Prize brings together a new generation of artists from across the North West for a major group exhibition at The Whitaker Museum & Art Gallery in Rossendale. Presented by artist-led organisation Short Supply, MADE IT was created in response to one of the most precarious points in an artist’s career: the transition out of education and into professional practice. Rather than treating graduation as an ending, MADE IT creates a platform for what comes next — giving emerging artists space to exhibit ambitious work, reach new audiences and build meaningful connections beyond university. The 2026 edition was selected from applications across the region, including Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Salford, University of Chester, Liverpool John Moores University, Blackpool & Fylde College, University of Lancashire, Lancaster University and University of Staffordshire. Across painting, sculpture, photography, installation, moving image and interdisciplinary practice, the exhibition offers a snapshot of what emerging artistic practice in the North West looks like now: ambitious, varied and rooted in a region with an extraordinary depth of creative talent. MADE IT has always been about more than a graduate show. It asks what meaningful support for artists can look like after education, and how opportunities can be built that are visible, generous and connected to the places artists actually live and work. Alongside the exhibition at The Whitaker, MADE IT 2026 also expands into public space through a partnership with First Street in Manchester, extending the project beyond the gallery and giving selected work a presence at city scale. Exhibition: 17 October – 13 December 2026 Opening Preview: Saturday 17 October, 2–4pm Venue: The Whitaker Museum & Art Gallery, Rawtenstall, Rossendale Admission: Free MADE IT 2026 is presented by Short Supply in partnership with The Whitaker, with support from partners across the North West arts sector. Read more Toggle Painting Installation Drawing Sculpture Film / Video Mixed media