Axis year in review 2024 to 2025

This is a look back at a year shaped by artists. It reflects what we supported, what we learned, and why the work mattered. Like our statutory charity report and accounts, it covers our financial year rather than the calendar year.

At a time of growing pressure on artists, economic, social, and emotional, Axis focused on putting artists first. 

We supported practice at every stage, strengthened our community, and continued to build a platform rooted in care, collaboration, and critical engagement.

Why we do this work

At Axis we believe art creates positive change. It connects people, sparks debate, and helps us understand each other and the world we live in. Our mission is to champion and support contemporary visual arts in the UK, while widening public engagement with artists and their work.

We are strengthening our core programmes, growing our community, amplifying artists’ voices, and ensuring Axis is sustainable for the long term.
 

The year at a glance

2024 to 2025 was a year of growth and ambition. Membership grew to almost 11,000 artists. We supported Fellows and bursary recipients, delivered learning and wellbeing programmes, commissioned writing and film, activated vacant buildings across the UK, launched a new website, and strengthened our governance.

Across all this work, our focus remained the same. Artists come first.
 

Supporting artists’ practice

Axis Fellowship 2024

The Axis Fellowship is our flagship programme of direct support. Fellows receive £4,000, one to one mentoring, and visibility across Axis platforms. What makes the Fellowship distinctive is its peer group model. Fellows support each other, lead sessions, and share knowledge across two phases of the programme.

The 2024 Fellows were:

• Uma Breakdown
• Asuf Ishaq
• Hannah Leighton-Boyce
• Sean Roy Parker

Selectors were Diana Ali (trustee), Harriet Bowman (2023 Fellow), Sunshine Wong, and Zoë Sawyer (Bloc Sheffield). Including a previous Fellow on the panel reflected the programme’s artist-led ethos and commitment to giving back.

Reflecting on their experience, Charlotte Cullen from the previous cohort said:

“The fellowship has really supported me this year. It has allowed me to slow down and develop new ways of working purposefully.”

Bursaries

Alongside the Fellowship, we awarded 16 bursaries of £500. These flexible grants support artists at key moments. They were used for research, training, materials, and new projects, including bookbinding training, materials purchases, and work exploring exclusion and human rights.

By keeping the process light and responsive, bursaries show our belief that sometimes the smallest grant can make the biggest difference.
 

Graduate Programme

Our Graduate Programme continued to support artists at the transition from study to professional practice. In summer 2024 we ran a programme combining talks, mentoring, and crit sessions, with contributions from KP Culver, The Uncultured, Umbrella, Uma Breakdown, and Harlan Whittingham.

The programme culminated in PRAXIS: The Axis Graduate Programme Exhibition at Cardiff Umbrella in January 2025. Eleven graduates took part: Carys Tupper, Zainab Sheikh, Annabelle Keyes, Tom Hardwick, Zoe Dackham, Heidi Lucca-Redcliffe, Nancy-Violet Downs, Elizabeth Walker, Ewan Coombs, Prajvi Mandhani, and Cheye Williams McFarland.

By combining learning with opportunities to show work, the programme helped artists build confidence, networks, and visibility at a pivotal stage.

Learning and wellbeing

Back to School with Axis

Back to School with Axis is our annual learning season. In October 2024 more than 800 people registered.

• Roo Dhissou, Roy Claire Potter, and Madinah Farhannah Thompson explored writing in practice.
• Sophie Hope, Nathan Walker, and Jade de Montserrat debated the value of PhDs.
• Sunshine Wong and Damon Jackson-Waldock shared insight into curatorial decision-making.
• The Uncultured led workshops on budgeting and funding.

All sessions were recorded and added to our Knowledge Base, ensuring the learning remains accessible to members beyond the live events.
 

Mental Health for Artists

Our Mental Health for Artists season returned for its fourth year in early 2025, with nearly 1,000 registrations. The programme puts care and wellbeing at the centre of artistic life.

• Babeworld critiqued toxic wellness culture and its impact on disabled artists.
• Short Supply explored burnout and sustaining northern artist communities.
• Nicola Singh reflected on rest and resilience through performance.
• Marcelle Joseph addressed the emotional labour of curatorial work.
• Vex Ashley examined audience building and boundaries.

Running the programme in January was a deliberate response to “new year, new you” pressures. One participant described it as:

“The perfect antidote to a system that often forgets artists are human.”

Membership and community

Membership approached 11,000 active artists, with retention above 90 percent. We introduced loyalty pricing so long-standing members never pay the full new rate while their subscription remains active.

We launched the Membership Charter, setting out shared values, rights, and responsibilities. It makes clear that Axis is more than a service. It is a collective.

Our online community space continued to grow, alongside more than 40 member meet-ups attended by over 500 artists. We also supported the first peer-led groups.

One member reflected:

“It’s refreshing to see a group of artists who have never met before come together in a supportive and nurturing way.”

We delivered over 50 Critical Friend Conversations, one to one mentoring sessions with artists as mentors, including Harriet Bowman, Hanna Tuulikki, Antonio Roberts, Zinzi Minott, Lydia Catterall, and members of the Axis team. These conversations helped artists develop ideas, confidence, and momentum at key moments.
 

Artists’ voices

Commissioning and amplifying artists’ voices remains central to our work. In 2024 to 2025 we funded 33 paid writing commissions.

Art School Confidential featured reflections from 18 artists on art school and alternative routes into practice. Their writing opened up honest debate about access, privilege, and value. As Lauren McLaughlin wrote:

“The arts sector is a place where only the most privileged can exist, and with all the love in the world, those that can’t afford to be there are pushed to the margins, or out altogether.”

In Resilience, self-care and what keeps you making art… we commissioned 12 artists, including Larry Achiampong, Letty McHugh, Paloma de Almeida Durante, and Julie Ward. 

Larry Achiampong reflected:

“When I think about resilience my mum comes to mind; a person with so much heart and unwavering willpower.”

Through our Corridor8 partnership, writers worked with Professional Members Ronnie Danaher, Aidan Moesby, and Hannah Leighton-Boyce to produce reflective articles on their practice.
 

Showcasing artists’ practice

In summer 2024 we curated Costume / Performance / Identity, a season exploring dress, performance, and self-expression. Contributors included Zinzi Minott, Eelyn Lee, Hanna Tuulikki, and Paul Kindersley. Recordings were made available to members, showcasing the depth and diversity of contemporary practice.

Our curated features brought together artists around shared themes, all commissioned and paid. Curators included Lydia Catterall, Katrina Cowling, Uma Breakdown, Eelyn Lee, Zinzi Minott, Holly Slingsby, and JC Candanedo.

Alongside these, our weekly Curated Highlights showcased more than 250 artists across the year, providing consistent visibility for members’ work.
 

Spaces for artists

Vacant Space remained a defining strand of our work. We transform empty buildings into creative hubs where artists can make, show, and share.

In Cardiff we supported artists at Wilcox House and the Capitol Centre, home to tactileBOSCH, SHIFT, and Cardiff Umbrella. These groups staged open days, performances, and festivals. We also produced a film documenting their collective experience.

Beyond Cardiff, we ran spaces in Sunderland, Guildford, Bournemouth, Pontefract, and Hastings. In Pontefract, the space was visited by Yvette Cooper MP, demonstrating the civic value of this work.

As one artist said:

“The space became home to a thriving community. Together, we achieved so much in such a short time.”

Digital foundations

In April 2024 we launched a new website designed to put artists first. Profiles are richer, navigation is clearer, and audiences can discover artists more easily. Engagement more than doubled, with more artists updating profiles and more people using the site to find work.

We also expanded the Knowledge Base, adding new guides and recordings from our learning and wellbeing programmes. It now functions as a living library for members.
 

How we lead

In December 2024 we moved to a Co-Chair model, appointing Fiona Grady and JC Candanedo. They reflected:

“It felt important to work together to combine the breadth of our artistic experiences and perspectives as co-chairs.”

We also began developing an AI ethics framework and an environmental sustainability policy, ensuring Axis leads with care, responsibility, and integrity in a changing landscape.
 

Looking ahead

The past year showed the strength of our community and the impact of artist-led support. In the year ahead we will deepen what works best. Fellowships and bursaries will continue to provide time and resources. Members will have more opportunities to lead and connect. Our curatorial voice will grow stronger. Vacant Spaces will keep demonstrating what is possible when artists are trusted with space.

Above all, we will keep artists at the centre, ensuring Axis remains a platform that is generous, critical, and open.

A full statutory report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025 are available via the Charity Commission.