Global art producer Wild In Art, in collaboration with Forever Manchester and Manchester Music City, has launched the Greater Manchester Grassroots Music Fund, designed to help emerging musicians in the region meet rising touring, promotion, and collaborator costs.
The launch was marked by a stripped-back lunchtime acoustic performance at the Cathedral of Sound installation in Mayfield Park, part of the Music for the Senses art trail.
Local talents – including Naomi Kalu, Rumbi Tauro, Concrete Club, Lily Rae Grant, Alex Spencer, and Macharia – performed at the event. Their portraits also appear on guitars featured in the trail’s Guitar Street installation.
Funding is being raised through the auction of 55 guitars – some donated by legendary Manchester acts such as Oasis, New Order, Elbow, Peter Hook, Busted, Doves, Pixies, PINS, and Stone Roses icon Mani, and others transformed into original artwork for the trail.
The city-wide Music for the Senses trail has featured over 80 artworks – including murals, mosaics, installations, and decorated guitars – celebrating Manchester’s music culture.
Following the trail’s conclusion, the guitar artworks will be exhibited at the People’s History Museum on 6–7 September, and a grand auction will take place at Hallé St Peter’s in Ancoats on Friday 12 September, with an online bidding option.
You find details of the auction here…
Manchester City Council recently committed £250,000 to support grassroots venues across the city. While that funding helps sustain performance spaces, the Grassroots Music Fund aims to enable artists themselves to get out there and tour.
Applications to the fund will open in November 2025, with full eligibility details to be announced after the auction.
Ben Reed, Head of Creative Development at Wild in Art, said: “Whilst demand for live music events remains high, many grassroots artists simply cannot afford to tour. It’s a global, industry-wide problem, and our creative solution has been to harness the excitement and global interest in our city, to create a fund that delivers for the grassroots, whilst also creating a free interactive event for people in the city.
“Every guitar in the trail is either a work of art, or has been owned by a musician that is part of our rich musical heritage, so bidders have the opportunity to own a piece of Manchester music history, whilst also supporting its future.”
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