About us

The Space brings arts organisations, artists and technology together to make great art and reach new audiences. We do this by commissioning projects, building digital skills, and helping organisations and venues reach more people using digital media.

We were founded by Arts Council England and the BBC to make arts and culture for everyone, support new talent and original work, and help the creative economy grow.

The BBC Academy supports our training and development work, and Creative Scotland, the Arts Council of Wales and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland fund and support our commissions outside England.

We are a Community Interest Company (CIC) with an independent Board of Directors from technology, media and the arts.

If you’re a UK arts professional, artist, digital media or production company, we're interested in working with you. Find out how and what we commission, or explore our training and resources.

Who we are

What we commission

The Space funds and provides development support to projects that get great arts experiences to more people using digital technologies and platforms.

We support ‘Capture’ projects that digitally record live arts events and open them up to new audiences and ‘Extend’ projects that use technology to give people deeper experiences of art, exploring new forms of digital storytelling, interactivity and participation.

We open applications for our funding and development rounds twice a year, and also commission organisations directly. Find out more.

Reaching new audiences

We think art should be for everyone. So we want to tackle the things that stop more people seeing it - like geography, or ideas about it not being ‘for them’.

We believe technology can do that, and we're passionate about helping artists make the most of it by supporting projects that let people enjoy culture in new ways - whether they’re card-carrying arts fans or cultural first-timers.

We’re especially interested in reaching wide and varied audiences. If that’s your sort of project, check out commissioning, resources and our training events.

Building skills

We need you to help us reach more people with great art.

If you’re a UK artist or arts organisation, we’re here to help you put digital technologies, thinking and platforms at the heart of what you do. We commission arts projects which use technology to enhance experiences, and we offer support with developing them - from advice and guidance to help getting your work out there.

But we know you don’t always need a commission. So we’ve teamed up with BBC Academy to offer digital skills training, events and resources, too.

About the team

Our team come from the arts, digital media, gaming, digital development and broadcasting. We're united by a passion for making great art and getting it to the most people possible using digital technologies and platforms.

We’re based in Birmingham but are often on the road at The Space’s regular events, or meeting organisations, production companies and artists.

Meet the team

See some of the work we’ve commissioned so far

Our board

The Space is an independent Community Interest Company with a Board Of Directors from the arts, media, digital and technology sectors.

Our Board Directors are:

Fiona Allan (Chair), Chief Executive of the Birmingham Hippodrome
Manisha Ferdinand, Communications Consultant – Culture, Media and Entertainment
Martin Green, Chief Executive at Hull City of Culture
Edward Humphrey, Director of Digital at the BFI
Claire McArdle, Vice President Multiplatform, Comedy Central International
Andrew Miller, Executive Associate, Royal & Derngate Theatre
Tim Plyming, Partner and Director of Content, Green Rock
Liz Rosenthal, Founder and CEO of Power to the Pixel
Jonnie Turpie, Founder of Maverick TV

Our partners

We were founded by Arts Council England and the BBC. We are also supported by the Arts Council Wales, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Creative Scotland. We work with the BBC Academy to provide events and resources that help build digital skills in the arts.

Our founding partners

Associate partners

Get in touch

We'd love to hear from you. Drop us an email and we'll get back to you.