Arts Gateway MK

Our Mission – to nourish and support the Arts in and around MK, increase participation in the arts by MK’s diverse population and to facilitate creative activity for which there is a need or appetite in MK. We do this by providing: - Supportive and low cost co-working spaces for local creatives. - Opportunities for local creatives to develop and showcase their practice. - A wide range of volunteering opportunities - Creative programmes, both on our own and in collaboration with others, reflecting MK's diverse population. - Learning and teaching of new creative/artistic skills. - Sustainable income and our own long-term home Arts Gateway MK, and its predecessor MK Arts Association, has had many incarnations over its 35 year existence; from a self-help network of artists through to its current role as provider of services to MK's Arts and Cultural sectors, primarily delivering creative workspace at our dedicated venue in MK; Arts Central. Arts Gateway MK exists to make a difference in MK and to its cultural infrastructure in whatever way we can. Our core business remains the provision of multi-genre creative hubs at Arts Central. We have more than doubled our scale of operation at Burners Lane to 75 studios and workspaces – well over half of MK`s overall provision. Alongside this we continue to deliver a variety of creative programmes from an increasing number of locations with a widening group of collaborating partners and serving a diversity of MK communities. In 2019 we faced a number of challenges around how and what we deliver publicly. We have continued MK Lit Fest and in the future we envisage the development of bespoke space in which to reinvigorate mixed programme. 2020 and the unfolding impact COVID-19 has further challenged our activities, but as an organisation we are forging ahead with an increased uptake of artists at Arts Central, a virtual MK LitFest and plans for a multi-use arts space for MK creatives and the community at large.