the makers guild in wales
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COMMUNITY CRAFT PROGRAMME

Learning through Craft
With education through craft at its core, and it's home in a unique Landmark Heritage Building, The Guild is embedded within the heart of the local community, with a long history of volunteering, (which was recognised through a recent '100 years of Volunteering in Cardiff' Heritage Lottery project; also, in June 2013 the Guild was awarded a Go Wales Excellence Award for our work volunteer placement scheme with Cardiff Metropolitan University over the last ten years) along with a successful 'Friends' Scheme. 
The Guild is a volunteer led Charity and a recognised as a social enterprise, with a long history of co-operative working since it's inception in 1984.
The Guild runs a craft-based education programme which offers our community a unique opportunity to learn about and take part in high quality craft workshops and community arts programmes. Our educational programme is well regarded and popular with local Schools, Colleges and Universities along with the many who take part in our regular craft workshops.


CONNECT THROUGH CRAFT
Community Craft Project 2024-2025
Connecting Communities through Craft!
A further development of our long term project sharing craft skills within the local communities of Butetown and Grangetown, Cardiff.
With the support of the Arts Council of Wales, the Makers Guild Wales is providing a programme of creative craft activities for adults living within the local Butetown community in Cardiff.
A fabulous range of hands-on craft sessions take place at Community Centres in Butetown, Grangetown and in our workshop spaces at Craft in the Bay
The project builds on the Guild's previous community pilot project and celebrates the sharing of craft skills, whilst offering accesible opprtunities to learn through craft. Craft makers will share their skills with others - pottery, feltmaking, printing, jewellery making, embroidery and many more crafts for you to enjoy.
Bookings will be through our online shop.
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Lintunan - Cyfnewid - Exchange

We were delighted to host the  "Lintunan - Cyfnewid - Exchange" at Craft in the Bay in Autumn 2023
This is a reciprocal collaboration between Andrew Bolton of Community Murals CIC and artists Butong Idar and Nano Warsono of Jogja Disability Arts (Indonesia) to create new murals in Wales and Indonesia as part of this creative exchange. You can see the finished pieces  at Pedal Power CIC in Cardiff Bay

The project aims were to raise awareness of international disability culture, fostering a deeper understanding within the disability arts community and among a broader audience. Celebrating the contributions of disabled artists to mainstream culture, transcending cultural boundaries and shedding light on the challenges they face in engaging with professional art.


An Unlimited International Partner Award 2023 commission supported by British Council.


Butetown Canal Murals Project

#ButetownCanalMurals
In the heart of Butetown, we've transformed forgotten canals into canvases of change, blending art, environmental consciousness, and community spirit. Our dynamic project brought together local schoolchildren in three storytelling workshops, where they didn't just learn about climate change—they shaped the narrative, co-creating murals that tell the story of their community's resilience and hope.

These vibrant artworks not only beautify but serve as daily invitations for safer, greener walks along the rejuvenated paths, fostering a newfound sense of belonging and pride. It's more than art; it's a movement where every brushstroke revives a canal, and every mural inspires a step towards a brighter, more connected Butetown
At the heart of Butetown are its canals - Unique Heritage , arteries,  that once transported goods to the thriving port were somewhat overlooked and in need of revitalisation.

“WOOOW, This is so beautiful. My Tiger! is that my tiger?” - local pupil visiting the mural


Over the Summer and Autumn of 2023 we worked with our community to enhance some of the bridges on the Canal Network in Butetown. This was been made possible by funding from The Principality Building Society’s Future Generations Fund and the Community Foundation Wales.
Butetown is one of the most diverse areas in Wales with a unique social and cultural heritage.

'The community is ‘sandwiched’ between Dumballs Road and Bute Street. It is an area of high deprivation '
'Mount Stuart (Butetown) continues to be central to the community it serves. It is as diverse as the area it serves. In November 2020, 27 recorded languages were spoken in Mount Stuart. 74% of pupils speak languages other than English. 415 pupils, approximately 95% of the school are from Minority Ethnic communities. There are 42 different ethnic groups.
https://darpl.org/you-cannot-be-what-you-cannot-see/

This project engaged with nearly 100 local young people, through three local Primary Schools, Mount Stuart Primary, St Cuthberts Catholic Primary, St Mary's Catholic Primary, using the unique Butetown Canal ecology as inspiration to create three murals across two of canal bridges on the Butetown Canal Network. Creative participation workshops, with a focus on environmental awareness and conservation, enabled young people to contribute to shaping the design of permanent artworks in their neighbourhood. The Lead Artist held workshops in the schools, and then designed and installed meaningful community murals from the material generated by the young people around the key themes of nature, climate change and biodiversity. These Murals were then installed on the Canal Network in Butetown, enhancing this area for the community.

Our work focused on the following areas
  • #Creativity - Inspiring nearly 100 pupils from local schools, with direction from the lead artist to create beautiful new murals.
  • #Environment - Enhancing and growing awareness of this Urban Heritage landscape, with a unique history and ecology, in the heart of Butetown.
  • #Community - this is a Community led initiative, drawing help and input from a wide range of community groups and individuals from Butetown.

We'd like to thank the following partners with this project
Atlantic Wharf Residents Association
Helen Gunter - Councillor, Butetown, Cardiff - Butetown Community News
Saeed Ebrahim - Councillor, Butetown, Cardiff- Butetown Community News
Robin Bonar-Law- Lead Community Artist

St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Butetown Cardiff
Mount Stuart Primary School, Butetown Cardiff
St Mary's Catholic Primary School , Butetown Cardiff
Cardiff Council - Who oversee the Canal Bridges and will look after the Murals in the long term


The Canals were formed as a result of the rich Industrial Heritage of the area but now is a peaceful and ecological unique part of Cardiff's city landscape.

"The ships that moored here during Cardiff’s industrial heyday are long gone, replaced by nesting coots, swans and great crested grebes (during summer, keep an eye out for colourful dragonflies and damselflies too)"
"It’s a quiet spot that’s a perfect temporary escape from the city’s hustle and bustle."


  • Some History about our Community in Butetown is available to view thanks to the The Heritage and Cultural Exchange, a community based organisation that aims to fully chronicle this heritage together with the cultural diversity of Tiger Bay and Cardiff Docklands and bring it to the world.
  • The Butetown Canal forms part of the Wales Coastal Path, you can find out more HERE

The Future Generations Fund is a Wales wide fund set up in partnership with Principality Building Society with the aim of having a positive impact in communities and the lives of young people in Wales.

This fund supports third sector and community organisations across Wales to help/encourage:
  • More young people developing positive savings habits to achieve their life goals and make the right choices for their future
  • More young people building financial resilience for life’s uncertainties
  • More young people preparing for the future and world of work (including building skills)
  • More young people gaining employment
  • More young people living sustainably and finding sustainable answers to local challenges

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magic Garden

Summer Family Craft 2023
Two weeks of fabulous creativity for families visiting the gallery this August - with guest artists leading the sessions: Prith Biant, Susan Joshi, Samina Husain, Yvonne Brown. An Arts Council of Wales supported project.

 connect through craft  2022-23

Celebrating Culture & Diversity
 During the past few months the Makers Guild Wales have been working with craft makers and local residents of Butetown to offer weekly craft workshops - sharing craft skills, learning new ones and coming up with some fabulous craft, including beaded jewellery, batik & transfer printed scarves, screen printed bags, clay sculpture and felted flowers! The workshops have taken place at Butetown Community Centre and at Craft in the Bay. A celebratory exhibition of some of the work made opened on 28th April at Craft in the Bay.
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Supported through the Anti-racist Wales Culture, Heritage & Sport Fund

 BUTETOWN - Heritage community Project 2022

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Volunteer Alvin and Team member Larissa are learning more about our exciting new project!
We've created a new project this year, continuing our work with The Heritage and Cultural Exchange. - A community based organisation that aims to fully chronicle the heritage together with the cultural diversity of Tiger Bay and Cardiff Docklands and bring it to the world. Within their archive is a wonderful historic record of our unique Landmark Heritage Building, Craft in the Bay, we used this as a theme and inspiration for our arts and Heritage based project, giving new understanding of our Buildings Heritage and it's place within our community, Butetown.
Together, we have created new content on a touchscreen which tells the rich history of our unique Heritage building, our local area - Butetown, our community and social heritage, you can also learn more about craft, our organisation and our makers.
Come along and learn more !

Then we also used the archive for a community arts project led by Kyle Legall in August 2022 - 'Where we used to Play'
Local residents, schools and multi-generational families from Butetown took part in creating the wonderful art work, inspired by the archive of The Heritage and Cultural Exchange, to create new, fresh interpretations of what the archive photos meant to them.
The work created through this project featured in an exhibition in August/September 2022.
Diolch i Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru/Arts Council of Wales


YMCA Cardiff Young Carers Summer Workshops 2022

This summer we're continuing or our work with YMCA Cardiff Young carers, by hosting craft workshops for Cardiff Young Carers once again through their ‘TIME 4 ME’ Young Carers Project. The ‘Time 4 Me’ project, which provides support and respite for Young Carers; a chance to meet other Young Carers; make new friends & have some fun across Cardiff and the Vale!
Young Carers are children & young people 7 to 18 years old who help care for a family member who lives with them.
The family member could be experiencing difficulties with one or more of the following: disability, illness, mental health issues and drug and alcohol issues.

Diolch i Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru/Arts Council of Wales

Student Medal Project 2021

We were delighted to be hosting this exhibition of art medals designed and created by students from art colleges across the UK, including academies in Italy and Bulgaria, alongside a small selection of contemporary medals by professional makers, commissioned by the British Art Medal Society.
The annual Student Medal Project, now in its 28th year, was established to reintroduce the art of the medal to art colleges, suggesting themes for their research and design process.  The exhibition includes medals selected from the Project in 2020 and 2021.
The optional theme for 2020 was Endangered Species from the Red List.  Each medal has a design front and back (obverse and reverse), and the students worked from design to complete their cast bronze medals, as shown here.

The winning medals and designs for this year’s Project have recently been judged, and the suggested theme was Black Art Matters.  Research on this theme included historic black art, as well as painting, sculpture, weaving, ceramics, the cinema and literature, and students investigated these areas from the beginning of the academic year.  A greater understanding and appreciation of the importance and the influence of black art has led to some wonderful medals and also to designs.  Because of the lockdown at colleges, the Project was widened to include a category of Design/Prototype so that as many students could participate as possible. Not surprisingly, a number of students also created work that reflected how they felt about isolation during this year. This year 74 cast medals from 14 different UK colleges have been made, as well as over 30 medal designs.

The British Art Medal Society has commissioned medals from many distinguished contemporary sculptors, glass engravers, jewellers, cartoonists and poets among many other creative practitioners.  The Goldsmiths’ Centre, the Worshipful Company of Founders, the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers, Thomas Fattorini Ltd are among the institutions that support the Student Medal Project; and the British Museum has purchased particularly meritorious student medals.

As part of this project , we undertook community based projects, including with our local School, Mount Stuart Primary  (photos above)

Makers guild wales working with young carers   2019

Project made possible with the financial support of the Community Foundation in Wales.
In partnership with the YMCA Cardiff, the Makers Guild in Wales provided Young Carers living within Cardiff and surrounding Vale a programme of after school and school holiday craft workshops held within the workshop spaces at Craft in the Bay. The craft project formed part of the YMCA's 'Time 4 Me' project aimed at providing Young Carers with opportunities to have a break from their responsibilities at home in helping to care for a sibling/parent and to have fun with other young people learning something new and interesting.

The workshops were delivered by professional makers experienced in teaching their specialist craft disciplines. A range of craft areas were covered including printmaking, felt making, jewellery design, pottery, enamelling, weaving, tie dye fabrics, willow sculpture and paper craft. Feedback from the young people, YMCA support staff and workshop tutors has all been very positive. Staff noticed improvements in the confidence and social skills of individual youngsters as they were brought together for the workshop sessions.
The project was very successful in providing opportunities for young people to learn new craft skills, gain in self confidence, feel proud of their achievements, develop their social skills and have time to just have fun with their peer group, away from the pressures of being a Young Carer at home. The team of staff from the YMCA were fantastic in their support of the project.
The unique gallery setting for their learning showed the Young Carers how the skills they were developing had been similarly applied by the guild members exhibiting and selling their craft in the gallery - a unique source of motivation, ambition and inspiration for developing individual creativity and expression.

Quotes from the young people when asked what they enjoyed:
‘everything because you got to make stuff’ ‘I liked it all a lot’
‘I got to meet new people’ ‘it was different’
‘using the wheel’ ‘clay’ ‘I liked getting messy and doing something new and learned new things’ ‘doing the pots’ ‘painting’ ‘being with my friend, making pottery, not being lonely’ ‘making my shark’
I liked painting and modelling because I was talking and having fun with my friends (Blessing) ‘I got to explore my creative side’
‘doing the enamelling’ ‘making stuff it was fun’ ‘we all had fun’
‘everything’ 'I liked that it got me out of the house’
Got to make my own necklace/rings and I have never done that before (Sonila)
Everything, I loved getting crafty (Georgie) That we learnt new things (Niamh)


Brysia Wella

During the week of the Urdd Eisteddfod in Cardiff Bay we hosted a special programme of events in partnership with Cardiff and the Vale University Health Board. Celebrating Welsh culture and language, Health & Wellbeing. the exhibition featured work by Haf Weighton and a daily programme of craft workshops, enabling young people to have fun creating artworks for a growing exhibition in our gallery during the week long event.
Special thanks to Julie Morgan AM and Maria Battle, Chair , Cardiff and the Vale University Health Board for officially opening the programme and taking part in our Creative Craft Workshops! #ArtsforHealthandWellbeing

Young Carers Project 2017

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Young Carers Project 2017
Thanks to funding from The Welsh Church Act Fund We delivered a project of craft workshops for Cardiff Young Carers in partnership with
YMCA Cardiff - Young Carers


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Funding our new Kilns

we'll keep you updated on how we progress with our new equipment!Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Maker Guild Wales Steve Nicholls accepts the cheque from Mark Poole of Viridor & Prosiect Gwyrdd Community Fund.
We've recently succesfully replaced our old Kilns.  Our educational programme is popular with local Schools, Colleges and Universities along with the many who take part in our regular craft workshops. ​The kilns that we use to provide our workshops recently broke down and were beyond economic repair, leaving us without some of the most used and vital pieces of equipment required to continue our workshop programme. 

We are so very grateful for the support provided by The Viridor & Prosiect Gwyrdd Community Fund and the The Sylvia Waddilove Foundation UK  and all those who donated via our crowdfunding campaign. We'll keep you updated on the projects that we run using our new kiln!
(April 2017)




About Us

Makers Guild Wales
Craft in the Bay
The Flourish, Lloyd George Avenue
Cardiff  CF10 4QH

Charity number 1113675
​Company number 5608888

Visit Us

 Craft in the Bay/Crefft yn y Bae
Open daily/ar agor pob dydd, 10- 5

Admission/Mynediad-  FREE - AM DDIM

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TERMS AND PRIVACY

  • What's On
    • Exhibitions >
      • GOLD
    • Meet the Makers - Artist Talks
    • Workshops
    • Connect through Craft - Butetown Community Craft Project
    • Art & Craft Parties >
      • Make & Create
      • Arty Parties
  • About Us
    • About the Guild >
      • 40 years of the Makers Guild
      • Visit of HRH Duchess of Gloucester
    • Our Gallery >
      • Makers Guild Wales
      • D Shed
      • Resilient Heritage Project
      • Craft in the Bay at 20
      • Molly Curley a tribute
    • Our Staff & Trustees
    • Community Programme >
      • Butetown Community Craft Project
      • Christmas Craft Pop up
      • Makers Wales
    • Room & Gallery Hire
  • Our Makers
    • Our Makers
    • Our Makers Stories
    • Makers Guild Craft Development Awards
    • Become a Maker Member
  • Support Us
    • Donations
    • Volunteer
    • Mailing list
    • Gift Service
    • Friends Of The Guild
    • Sponsors
    • OwnArt
  • Visit/ Contact
    • Visit us
    • Restaurant >
      • Customers of Giovanni's in The Bay
  • SHOP