Spike Island Associates

Spike Island Associates

Photograph by Max McClure

Spike Island Associates is a professional development network for artists, curators, designers, writers and producers at all stages of their careers. Members span multiple disciplines and share a common interest in collaboration, experimentation and a desire to learn new skills.

We programme a year-round calendar of events for Associates, including:  

  • One-to-one meetings and group crits with artists, curators, writers and critics from across the world 
  • Reading and discussion groups 
  • Skills workshops: pricing and selling your work, fundraising, bookkeeping and finances, digital and practical skills 
  • Talks and study sessions related to contemporary art practice 
  • Away days to galleries and artist-led spaces  

Join a wider creative network

Associates members learn from experts in the creative industries. Recent guests include:

Marwa Arsanios, Pio Abad, Larry Achiampong, Amy Budd, Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti, Leah Capaldi, Cairo Clarke, Eoin Dara, Amrita Dhallu, Sean Edwards, Seán Elder, Leyla Fakhr,  Ceri Hand, Louise Hobson, Kabir Jhala, Taylor Le Melle, Kim McAleese, Jade Monserrat, Harold Offeh, Shy Bairns, Lucy Stein, Lillian Wilkie, Eliel Jones, Rianna Jade Parker, John Eng Kiet Bloomfield, Angela YT Chan, Alice Theobald, Clara Jo, Adham Faramawy, Hannah Wallis, Tako Taal, Alice Channer, Olivia Sterling and Alberta Whittle.

Associates can also connect with communities outside of Bristol through our membership of the Kaleidoscope Networka collaboration with Eastside Projects, Birmingham; Primary, Nottingham; and The NewBridge Project, Newcastle. 

Join today

Join today

What's on for Spike Island Associates

Become a member to take advantage of this program

Date
Location

Eulogy by Dennis Dizon

A two-part workshop inviting participants to mediate feelings of loss and grief between human and more-than-human, through speculative writing and a collaborative performance.
28 to 29 November 2025
10am–5pm
Location: Spike Island

Group Crit: Karimah Ashadu

A group crit with British-born Nigerian artist and film director Karimah Ashadu.
20 November 2025
2–4pm
Location: Associates Space

Writing Workshop with Emily LaBarge

A workshop with writer Emily LaBarge exploring writing as practice and experimental form.
06 November 2025
10am–1pm
Location: Associates Space

One-to-ones: Anna Colin

Anna Colin is a curator whose interdisciplinary practice encompasses the pedagogical, the social, the ecological and the horticultural.
25 October 2025
9.30am–3pm
Location: Spike Island

Ecocentric Futures with Anna Colin

In this talk, curator Anna Colin will explore ecocentric ways of practicing futures and “gardening time”.
25 October 2025
3.30–5pm
Location: Associates Space

Exhibition Tours: Nour Jaouda and Dan Lie

Join Spike Island's Director Nicole Yip for an exclusive tour of the new exhibitions by Nour Jaouda and Dan Lie.
09 October 2025
11am–12pm
Location: Spike Island
Image of wooden sculpture on table

Open Sandwich: Harriet Bowman

Join multidisciplinary artist and Spike Island studio holder Harriet Bowman as she talks about some recent work to the Spike Island Community.
07 October 2025
1–2pm
Location: Associates Space
A close-up photograph of a Chinese rhubarb plant 'Rheum Palmatum'.

Group Visit: (de)Bordering at Royal Fort Gardens, University of Bristol

Join Migration Mobilities Bristol and Brigstow Institute to learn about the (de)Bordering project at Royal Fort Gardens, University of Bristol.
29 September 2025
1.30–3pm
Location: University of Bristol

Current Spike Island Associates

Join an active network of 300 creative practitioners

Spike Island Associates is supported by UWE Bristol. Spike Island and UWE Bristol work in partnership to deliver sector-leading support, facilities and opportunities for early-career artists and arts professionals to develop their skills and knowledge. The partnership incudes the provision of resources, arts research, joined-up learning opportunities for creative students, as well as shared public events.