01
People before polish
You don’t need the right clothes, the right words or a portfolio. You should feel at home here exactly as you are.
Our story
An old dye works, full of new colour
Mosaic is an independent charity run by a small staff, a big team of volunteers and the people who come through the door. We believe a creative life shouldn’t depend on talent, money or knowing the right people.
How we got here
From empty yard to shared studio
It started with a question passed around a kitchen table: what if our town had somewhere to try things without having to be good at them first?
A handful of neighbours borrowed the keys to the old dye works, cleared the floor, found some chairs and put the kettle on. A repair afternoon became a drawing group. The drawing group became an exhibition. People kept turning up.
Our programme still grows from conversations rather than a grand plan. If you think something is missing, tell us at the welcome desk.
2013
The dye works closes
The last dyers leave the Market Street works after ninety years. The building sits empty for three winters.
2016
A borrowed key
A group of neighbours borrows the keys for a weekend repair café. Two hundred people turn up.
2017
Mosaic is born
The group becomes a charity, signs a lease and opens the Print Room with a second-hand press.
2020
The Yard Room
The old drying shed is rebuilt as a hall for gigs, film and dance, with a sprung floor.
2023
Clay arrives
A kiln, six wheels and a lot of shelving turn the back store into the Clay Studio.
2025
Step-free throughout
A lift, new toilets and a level yard make every room accessible.
What holds us together
Three things we keep coming back to
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Room to get it wrong
Trying matters more than a perfect result. We make space for experiments, happy accidents and starting again.
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Everyone has something
A skill, a story, a spare hour or an excellent flapjack recipe. Every kind of contribution counts.
The team
The people you’ll meet
Ottoline Rigg
Director
Ran a print studio in Cartmel for twelve years before helping clear out the dye works.
Dorcas Satterthwaite
Printmaker in residence
Teaches lino on Tuesdays and runs the risograph. Has opinions about paper.
Fintan Holme
Ceramics tutor
A potter from Dalton who fires the kiln twice a week and fixes the wheels.
Mags Dalzell
Textiles lead
Darner, dyer and keeper of the scrap basket. Runs Stitch and Mend.
Iolo Moorby
Music programmer
Leads the Market Street Singers and books the acoustic nights.
Anwen Tyson
Family programme
Invents the Saturday Makers challenges, usually the night before.
Bram Huddleston
Film club
Chooses, introduces and occasionally apologises for the third Thursday film.
Cass Birkett
Visitors and access
Runs the welcome desk, the open mic and our access guide.
Wilf Askew
Volunteers
Looks after 86 volunteers and the repair café toolbox.
How the doors stay open
Class fees, tickets and room hire pay for about two thirds of what we spend. The rest comes from 640 Friends, local trusts and the pay-what-you-can tin. Every booked class keeps two supported places.
- Classes and tickets
- 48%
- Room hire
- 19%
- Friends and gifts
- 33%
Make it your place
The programme is shaped by the people who use it. Tell us what you’d like to learn, offer a skill or help make someone’s first visit a good one.