ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the experiences of creative graduates working in managed artist studio spaces in Manchester in the North West of England. It considers their trajectories and career development after art school and explores their professionalisation, recognition and success in relation to the opportunities provided by studio spaces and the broader arts infrastructure and creative economy in Manchester and beyond. It attempts to understand the relationship between training, teaching and learning within higher education and the strategies and realities of emerging and established visual artists in a regional city. In doing so, it critically examines how creative human capital, mediated by the community of practice offered by a managed studio space, moves through the structural relations of ‘town’ and ‘gown’, which impact on the careers and mobility of artist-practitioners and their opportunities for market entry and professional development.
