Places in Stockport to get creative
In the Stockport area you'll find a thriving network of studios, community spaces and creative hubs running all kinds of different art classes for adults and providing a place for you to unleash your creativity onto the world.
This guide features:
Pink MCR
Merseyway Workshop
ARC Centre
Art Club
Make Space High Peak
Creative session at Make Space, High Peak
Pink MCR
Hilton House, Stockport SK1 3NA
At first glance, Hilton House looks like a fairly unremarkable office block sitting just off the roundabout between Stockport Station and the town centre. Step inside however, and you'll find one of the most exciting creative spaces in the region. Pink MCR occupies four floors with a dedicated events and performance space, and a community of over 30 artists and creators experimenting across different disciplines.
They host everything from film screenings and performances to public workshops and community gatherings, and even operate internationally with partnership connections in Denmark and Norway. It really makes for a unique space.
Merseyway Workshop
Tucked away just behind all the major high street stores off the main shopping street, Merseyway Workshop is a DIY-style community hub built around making, learning and creating. They run regular creative workshops, drop-in sessions and skill exchanges, with a specialism in ceramics and claymaking and hold regular throwing classes for those who are keen to have a go at the wheel. They also host the Stockport Ceramics Fair, with the versatile space also serving as a pop-up gallery throughout the year and even occasionally as a bar.
ARC Centre
Based at the iconic Hat Works building in Stockport town centre, ARC (which stands for ‘Arts for Recovery in the Community’) is a charity using the arts to improve mental health. The first floor contains studios, a café and a gallery space that is open to the public at the same time as the hat museum. Their workshop programme is open to all and includes a wide range of different creative disciplines to try, like ceramics, drawing, painting, glass fusing, screen printing and textiles. They pride themselves on providing a warm, welcoming and inclusive space that is rooted in community. If you've never been in, the gallery alone is worth the visit.
Art Club
Set on Shaw Road in the heart of Heaton Moor, Art Club is a creative community café run by artist Angela Lock. As a permanent home for her classes and workshops, it also functions as a mixed-use space serving as a café, bar and gallery. Their programme includes life drawing and painting classes through to talks and exhibitions. There’s also a lovely little beer garden outside which makes this a lovely creative spot all year round. There is regular evening entertainment including vinyl nights with well-known DJs.
MakeSpace High Peak
90-92 Albion Road , New Mills SK22
If you jump on a train. a 25-minute journey outside of Stockport, nestled on the cusp of the Peak District, MakeSpace is a beautiful light and airy new studio space and workshop in the heart of New Mills. Amy, who runs the studio, describes the concept as an open invitation for adults to pause, play, experiment, and try something new. They run regular yoga and movement sessions alongside a packed schedule of creative workshops: mindful painting, customisation, and photography walks that embrace the nature along the rivers Goyt and Sett where they meet along the Torrs Riverside Walk, right on their doorstep.
It really does feel a world away from real life, making it the perfect setting to immerse yourself in something artistic.
