Castlefield Gallery

Both a visual art gallery and an artist development agency, Castlefield Gallery hosts a number of varied exhibitions every year, showcasing work from both local contemporary artists and those from further afield. At the heart of its ethos is a determination to nurture talent, giving the gallery a vital role in the North West art scene. They also partner with various universities to give students the opportunity to hold short-run exhibitions, as well as offering regular "launch pad" opportunities as a way of artists to use the gallery as a 'test bed' for their work. The exhibition space is housed over two floors, with large windows revealing a feature wall which spans both floors. Whilst the space in Castlefield is the gallery's main location, it regularly curates exhibitions in pop-up spaces around the city and has also worked with NOMA, with whom it ran a secondary exhibition space on the other side of town in Federation House. [Charlotte Davies]