Autumn has arrived, and the HappeningInMCR team are back with a brand-new exhibition in their cosy Community Micro-Gallery, featuring some amazing local artists!

This was their 7th open call and, after sifting through a massive 64 submissions, they’ve handpicked 17 stunning works now proudly on display inside the Tib Street entrance at Afflecks.

Expect an incredible mix of creativity, from bold acrylics and colourful risoprints to collage, paper cutting, digital prints and photography. There’s truly something for everyone, and who knows… you might just find your next favourite piece to take home!

Even better? If you fall in love with an artwork, you can buy it directly from the artist using the details in the gallery. Neither Afflecks nor HappeningInMCR take a penny in commission, meaning every sale supports local artists and their craft. 

So swing by, soak up some creativity, and celebrate Manchester talent at its best!

Here's a little more about the featured artists, and some statements on their work:

Abigail Parsons (she/her)
Instagram: @vaampcatz
Leave your mark, 2024, Biro on paper, 40 x 30 cm, £90

Abigail explores the hidden art spaces of Greater Manchester with a focus on the vibrant
graffiti scene. The piece includes the real tags of artists around Manchester, recognising the
small works of art in our lives and how we mark and impact the world around us.

Amelia Davis (she/they)
Instagram: @amel.iris
Panoptes, 2025, Collage on card, 23 x 32 cm, Not for Sale

Amelia Davis is a collage artist based in Manchester. She uses vintage photography, print
media, and commercial graphics to construct new visual commentaries, repurposing the
aesthetics of the past to explore contemporary themes of censorship, exploitation, and
surveillance.
She is a regular attendee of the Peer Hat's biweekly art club, where community collaboration has provided access to a wide array of new perspectives and materials, influencing her creative approach. By bringing together disparate elements as a composite whole, Amelia strives to capture the DIY ethos and community spirit that has sustained Afflecks as a cultural institution.

Andres Noca (she/her)
Instagram: @andreanoca.illustration
Belladona, 2024, Digital artwork, 20 x 28 cm, £35 framed

Andrea Noca is a Spanish illustrator and designer with Peter Pan syndrome and a tattoo of a Dalí quote to prove it. She moved to Manchester at 18 and found her creative home in the Northern Quarter, drawn by its boldness, noise, and glorious chaos — a mirror of her own colourful, talkative, and slightly compulsive personality.

Now based in Altrincham with her Irish husband and their cheeky daughter, her work blends playfulness with deeper themes of identity and emotion. Though known for children’s illustration, she also explores more poetic, introspective pieces — always layered with bold textures, vibrant colour, and a touch of joyful disorder.

Her practice celebrates curiosity, individuality, and imagination, echoing the energy
of spaces where everything feels loud, alive.

Anita Memar (she/her)
Instagram: @ani.memar
Magic at Home, 2024, Coloured pencil and collage, 29.7 x 21 cm, £75

Anita Memar is an illustrator and image-maker based in Manchester, holding a Master’s
degree in Illustration from MMU. Her practice centers on character-driven narratives that
weave together emotional storytelling and fragments of personal memory. Through drawing, collage, and mixed media, Anita captures the quiet yet dynamic moments of everyday life, often highlighting connections between people, objects, and spaces.

Her work celebrates individuality and the beauty of the “unordinary,” themes that resonate with Afflecks’ ethos. By translating intimate, familiar scenes into visually rich compositions, she seeks to create images that feel both personal and universally relatable, inviting viewers to find their own stories within them.

BABYFACE (he/they)
Instagram: @babyface.designs
Lights of the North, 2025, Photography and Digital Editing, 21 x 29.7 cm, £20

Finn’s artwork consists of vivid and intricate, featuring abstract compositions that radiate
energy through his dynamic interplay of colours, forms, and textures. Dominated by rich
pinks, vibrant reds, and contrasting blues and yellows, Finn’s pieces capture attention with his dense layering and complex visual structure. Finn’s combination of expressive brushwork and saturated hues suggests his work has themes of nostalgia, the real world with reminisce of abstract expressionism to create an unworldly atmosphere, where emotion and vitality are conveyed through form and colour rather than concrete representation.

DJ Chadman (they/them)
Instagram: @djchadmanart
Evil Gran, 2023, Acrylic on Canvas, 22.7 x 31.4 cm, £250

DJ Chadman is an interdisciplinary artist and experimental filmmaker from Whalley Range, Manchester, whose work celebrates the grotesque, humorous, and neurodivergent lens through which they view everyday life. Their paintings satirise austerity and the northern aesthetic through bold colours, exaggerated features, and an unapologetically DIY approach rooted in punk culture.

Drawing on personal and collective memory, the work distorts nostalgia and challenges notions of respectability with a dark, absurd sense of humour. Influenced by outsider art and lived experience of mental illness, their practice prioritises emotional rawness and awkwardness over technical polish.

The work fits naturally within Afflecks’ legacy of irreverence, eccentricity, and anti-mainstream creativity art that says no to authority and yes to radical expression. Whether grotesque, absurd or disarmingly sincere, their pieces offer a loud, messy, and heartfelt reflection on identity, discomfort, and defiance.

Jasmin Issaka (she/her)
Instagram: @jasminissaka | Website
Pull up, Pull up at Pullup Bar!, 2024, Mixed Medium Collage, Digital Illustration Finish,
29.7 x 42 cm, £45

Jasmin Issaka is a Manchester-based visual artist, graphic designer, and illustrator whose practice fuses analogue mark-making with digital flair. Her work embraces bold colour, psychedelic pattern, and rhythm to celebrate identity, joy, and community.

Her illustration Pull-up Bar offers a vibrant portrayal of a local landmark, highlighting its role as both a physical structure and a social anchor in Manchester’s neighbourhoods. By blending hand-drawn textures with digital layering, Jasmin’s style brings everyday icons to life in ways that feel playful, soulful, and dynamic—honouring the city’s cultural fabric while inviting audiences into immersive worlds where tradition meets imagination.

Katie Carter (she/her)
Instagram: @kcarter_fineart
The Corn Exchange, 2025, Aquatint Etching, 26 x 26 cm, £45
Katie Carter is a visual artist currently studying at the University of Salford, where she
specialises in both printmaking and sculpture. Her artistic practice is rooted in a fascination with architectural forms, particularly those emerging from the brutalist and modernist movements.

These distinctive styles strongly inform her creative output, influencing both her abstract, minimalist relief sculptures and more figurative prints. Katie’s printmaking work, especially her aquatint etchings, focus on buildings found in and around Manchester. Through these pieces, she explores the interplay between light, shadow, and structural form, seeking to reveal a quiet sense of stillness and contemplation within the often chaotic and fast-paced urban environment.

Her work reflects a thoughtful balance between form, texture,
and atmosphere.

Lauren Elise (she/her)
Instagram: @bylaurenelise
He Swallows You Whole, 2024, Graphite, yellow and black Risograph, 25 x 33.7cm, £25

Lauren Brown is a multimedia artist based in Stockport. She likes to write short stories and illustrate them using various materials such as graphite and inks, or printing processes like Risograph. Her work has a deep basis in the woodland fantasy genre where she explores anthropomorphism.

She specialises in visceral image making, combining gothic imagery and themes of death with feminist ideas to create educational, illustrative media in the form of fantasy stories.

Lewis Richardson (he/they)
Instagram: @leafy_lizard
Deep within the earth, at Rest, 2025, Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 20cm in 12 x 24cm frame,
Not for Sale

This piece depicts a serpentine/draconian spirit perched upon a rock within a hidden cave. Brilliant light dances from its body, bouncing off the stone walls and water surface. Deep in an unbroken slumber, it seems the beast has not risen for a long, long time, but we forgive it - presumably tuckered out from granting wishes and inspiring myths, etc.

This piece is about taking ample time to rest in between magical acts, and is a reminder that one's inner light does not stop shining, even during periods of extended dormancy. Affleck's was part of the inspiration for this piece; the twisting passageways and hoarded treasures would make the perfect hideaway for any urban dragon/spirit.

Lucas John (he/him)
Website: lucasjohn.photography
Manifesting, 2024, Digital Photography on Photo paper, 29.7 x 42 cm, £140

Lucas is a documentary photographer with a passion for life and the theatre of existence.
For him, life is full of captivating moments of theatre, existing within the spaces in-between our interactions with others and our environment. Moments extremely beautiful and sometimes truly devastating, but nonetheless, pure, authentic, and powerful.

With over two decades of experience working within the theatre industry as an actor and
Grotowski practitioner, Lucas brings a sensitivity and nuance to his work as a photographer. He focuses on the unseen moments of beauty seeped into the mundane, the rituals of life, and the moments of connection that linger within the immediacy of the moment

m.a.i.a (she/they)
Instagram: @m.a.i.a.tattoo
Icarus, 2024, Lino cut print on paper, 44 x 32 cm £50 framed

Maia is a printmaker, painter, tattoo artist and poet based in Manchester. She studied art at MMU and Edinburgh University, but got most of her passion and experience growing up in Old Trafford with her very artistic and very supportive mum. Her work is often whimsical and gothic, taking inspiration from stories, mythology, and the eerie beauty in the mundane.

She creates modern fantasy worlds where contrasting concepts can live together in harmony; old and new, big and small, natural and industrial. She wonders about our connection to nature, especially in modern urban life. She should probably spend less time on her phone.

Mia Darnell (she/her)
Instagram: @peaks_and_troughs_art
Golden Tandoori, 2025, Lino ink print on card, 21 x 29.7 cm, £25, £45 framed

Golden Tandoori might not be architecturally pristine or polished, but it stands as a kind of sacred stop for many. A place of midnight rituals; shared chips and good company. This print celebrates more than just a physical location—it honours the everyday landmarks that quietly shape the culture and soul of the city. Small, independent, and often family-run, places like this hold a significant presence in Manchester’s urban fabric.

Miamiamia (she/her)
Instagram: @miamiami.art
AMIGO, 2024, Acrylic on Wood Panel Canvas, 16.5 x 16.5 cm, Not for Sale

Mia is a self-taught artist from Preston who has recently relocated to Manchester. Primarily working with acrylic paint, she seeks to explore human experience and identity in her work, often using herself and those close in her life to visually document moments in time.

She has a current focus in contemporary portraiture and aims to capture the vibrancy, individuality and personality of those within her work through animated brushstrokes and bold colour.

Mielle (she/her)
Instagram: @cosmxc_
Dead Man's Party, 2024, Layered Cardstock, 25.2 x 18.3 cm (incl frame), Not for Sale

Mielle is a recent Nottingham Trent University graduate, class of 2024. Currently, she's
focused on creating artwork that reflects her passions and exploring new ideas. Since
returning home, she has been navigating the challenges of deciding her next steps,
prompting her to revisit past works for inspiration.

A significant influence on Mielle's artistic journey has been Afflecks, a vibrant hub for alternative culture that has played a crucial role from the start of her creative journey. The countless visits to Afflecks have served as a source of inspiration, enriching her ideas and artistic output.

Her recent work includes a series of illustrations inspired by the song "Dead Man’s Party" by Oingo Boingo, which connect deeply with the alternative music scene that Afflecks
embodies. Mielle aims to become more actively involved in the creative community, seeking to share her artwork and ideas in a space that fosters collaboration and acceptance.

Niamh Wood (she/her)
Instagram: @_littlebadger
The Swallows, 2023, Acrylic on wood, 23 x 32 cm, Not for Sale

Niamh Wood is an artist and illustrator based in South Manchester. She grew up in the
countryside of Derbyshire and spent most of her childhood holidays in Ireland, where she
found a lot of her artistic inspiration. Her work focuses primarily on animals and
mythological/whimsical themes.

She created this piece after visiting a few Manchester parks and seeing the swallows flying low after returning from Africa. It's a lovely reminder of the diverse wildlife we can find in the city.

TullyBolt (she/her)
Instagram: @tullybolt | Website: tullybolt.com/
Washing Line Dance, 2024, Oil and pencil on cradled wooden panel, 35 x 28 x 2.5 cm (incl
frame), £200, unframed

TullyBolt is a Wigan-based painter whose work explores the quiet strangeness of everyday life. Her paintings often begin with personal photographs or domestic details, then shift through memory and instinct into something more dreamlike and emotionally distant.

She’s drawn to cluttered spaces and moments that feel intense or old, as if they carry a history that can’t be fully explained. Using soft distortions and saturated colour, she creates still images that hold emotional weight without offering a clear narrative. The result is often a suspended atmosphere, where something is felt before it’s understood.

Her background in art history runs alongside her painting practice, feeding a curiosity about how images shape memory and meaning. She graduated in 2025 with a BA in Fine Art and Art History and is building a body of work that sits between observation, projection and quiet unease.

If you'd like to learn more about HappeningInMCR, or would like to take part in future galleries, you can follow HappeningInMCR on instagram at @happeninginmcr for regular updates.