An art gallery in Blackburn has been awarded funding by Arts Council England to develop its programme and support local artists.

Prism Contemporary is a gallery and studio as well as a research hub, on Lord Street West, that aims to support underrepresented artists.

The Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant will allow the gallery to develop the 2023 programme which sets out to diversify work by offering northern, working class emerging artists the chance to break into the creative industry.

The gallery is also aiming to bring in more national and international artists to grow their network and opportunities.

A spokesperson for Prism Contemporary said: “We are very happy to announce that Prism Contemporary has been awarded an Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant for our 2023 programme.

"This bid will allow us to start bringing in bigger bids, more programming of both local, national and international artists and exciting opportunities; not only for the artists that we currently support, but for emerging artists within Blackburn and the surrounding areas."

“This will allow us to further develop our gallery, extend and diversify our programme. Our main focus for 2023 is to support not only our own studio artists, but to understand how we can support more northern, working-class emerging artists.

“We will also be aiming to bring in more national and international artists to Blackburn to extend our reach.

“Our goal as an organisation is to learn how we can bring more opportunities and much needed support to the artists and creative ecosystem of Blackburn.

“We’d like to thank Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Blackburn Museum for their support, and of course Arts Council England for accepting our Project Grant.”

Article amended March 3. The article was altered as it incorrectly stated the amount of funding received.