About Primary

Primary is an artist-led contemporary visual arts organisation and charity housed in a characterful Grade II listed former school in Nottingham. We are an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, and in 2020 we reached a significant milestone by purchasing our building to ensure the long-term sustainability of our vision. 

Our mission is to commission, produce and present art exploring ideas that affect societal change. We are a dynamic space for creative research, new work, and collaboration, expanding who is involved in making art and connecting local and global communities.

Our site and ethos create a unique environment for creative research where the value that we collectively produce is much more than the sum of its parts. We provide studios and strategic development for artists alongside a free public programme of commissions, exhibitions and events. We are home to over 50 diverse artists from a broad range of critically engaged visual arts practice alongside workshops including clay, weave, and design, outdoor and garden spaces, independent galleries, a bookshop, and the award-winning Small Food Bakery.  

Our approach is to invest in artistic research through participation and engagement, delivering a regular programme of commissions, learning and community events, and platforms for conversation and knowledge exchange. By employing a cycle of theory, practice, and reflection across all this activity, we create genuinely collaborative relationships between artists, audiences, and the wider community that surrounds us to further shape our work. 

We continue to transform this former school in the Radford neighbourhood of the city into a valuable cultural resource. Through a first-stage capital refurbishment we have become increasingly accessible, welcoming and able to meet the needs of our different communities of interest.