Join us - become a Maker Member
Apply to become a MAKE Southwest Maker Member
Makers based in the Southwest region (Devon, Cornwall, The Isles of Scilly, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath) are able to apply for membership of MAKE Southwest. We offer three levels of Membership:
Full Membership
All working craftspeople based in the Southwest region are entitled to apply for full Membership of MAKE Southwest. Full Members can sell their work in our retail gallery, submit work for exhibitions both in our galleries and touring, gain access to marketing, making, networking support and professional development opportunities. Additional benefits arise through our branding, marketing and networks. We hold an annual summer show exclusively for our Maker Members to showcase their best new work, and we also have a tent at the acclaimed annual Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey, which showcases Members’ work. The Charity currently has over 230 Members. Full membership subscription is £156 a year.
Associate Membership
This is designed to help aspiring craftspeople to acquire the skills necessary to establish a successful practice and business in craft. We actively seek progression for Associate Maker Members including professional development, mentoring, exhibition and outreach opportunities, including an annual stand at the Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey. The Charity currently has approximately 30 Associate Maker Members. Associate membership subscription is £50.40 a year.
Detailed information about our full & associate membership can be downloaded HERE.
Our framing guidelines can be downloaded HERE.
Graduate Membership
To support makers after their studies (up to 5 years after graduating) or at a very early stage in their careers. This membership will help inform you about what it is to be a professional maker and gain insight into the working practices of a professional craft organisation. You will have opportunities in selling, exhibiting, networking and support in your practice. There is no selection process required for this membership.
Graduate membership subscription is £20 a year. You will pay the initial amount upon sign up to the Graduate Membership. We take subsequent yearly subs payments at the end of February and at the end of August so, dependent on when you sign up to the graduate membership, your subscription will be up for renewal the following February or August.
For information, and to join as a Graduate Maker Member, please click HERE.
Any questions, just get in touch: hello@makesouthwest.org.uk
“A unique membership organisation, not just a pool of phenomenal talent and goodwill, but a highly supportive team of inspiring creative professionals. Through my membership I have benefitted from many wonderful opportunities to exhibit, research and develop my work. Importantly I have made many great friends and allies, and it is this coming together of like-minded people above all, that gives me a sense of resilience and optimism in the precarious business of being an artist.”
“ A source of inspiration and encouragement since I first exhibited with them in Get Fresh over thirteen years ago. I am proud to say that I am a member of an organisation with such a big heart, great ambition and sense of community.”
MAKE Southwest Maker Members
Selection Dates 2024
The Selection Committee meets three times a year to view images. Following each meeting, successful applicants at stage 1 will be invited to submit samples of their actual work to the next meeting for stage 2.
Information and images must be received by the deadlines to be considered by the committee.
2024 Application Deadlines: (for Full & Associate only)
Deadline: Tuesday 17th December 2024, 11:45pm (for Selection Meeting held on Tuesday 21st January 2025)
Deadline: Tuesday 22nd April 2025, 11:45pm (for Selection Meeting held on Tuesday 20th May 2025)
Deadline: Tuesday 26th August 2025, 11:45pm (for Selection Meeting held on Tuesday 23rd September 2025)
For any Membership queries, please contact Laura Wasley, laura@makesouthwest.org.uk