The Horsfall is an exciting new venue and programme of activity building on 42nd Street’s trusted and innovative approach to improving young people’s mental health.
We have taken inspiration for the project from the Ancoats Art Museum; a unique social and artistic experiment established in Ancoats, Manchester at the end of the 19th Century.
The Story
Its founder, Thomas C Horsfall sought to promote wellbeing and social change through contact with art and nature.
Horsfall filled the museum with artworks, sculptures, music recitals, public lectures and even live birds in a bid to make the lives of those living in the surrounding slums more bearable. The Horsfall project will draw on this rich, but little known story and make it relevant and useful to young people across the city today.
-1884, Ancoats
Thomas Horsfall opens The Ancoats Art Museum to improve the lives of the poor of Manchester.
-2016, Ancoats
The Young people’s mental health charity 42nd Street launches The Horsfall a venue and programme of activity exploring the role of creative engagement in positive mental health and wellbeing.
The project will begin with the renovation and repurposing of an empty, Victorian shop into a three storey, dedicated creative space.
The launch programme includes a site specific theatre experience, visual arts exhibitions, online collaborations between young people in the UK and Los Angeles and opportunities for young people to develop creative skills for a commercial market.