Initiated in 2002, PYLON was conceived as an experimental model for supporting the professional needs of three independent new media installation artists in the North of England.

With support from Arts Council of England, North West, PYLON was launched as a two-year pilot project in 2003, enabling the PYLON artists to employ a part time Project Development Manager to work with them on both an individual and collective basis.

Initially this role was to be primarily administrative (fund raising, marketing and publicity support for each artist), as each of the PYLON artists was caught between part time work in higher education and devoting sufficient time to developing (and financing) more ambitious work.

However, with the appointment of Michelle Hirschhorn, the group decided to broaden the scope of the Project Manager’s role to include curatorial and mentoring input as well, in order to provide both practical and critical support to help further each artist’s short, medium and long term professional aspirations. Whilst still part time (1 day per week), the new role encompassed a range of duties including project development, critical feedback, assistance with proposal writing & fundraising, identification of exhibition and commission opportunities, promotion and career development strategies.

By operating as a small group, each artist benefited from shared information and resources, including mailing lists, professional contacts, technical support and other opportunities. Quarterly face-to-face meetings (as a group and individually with the Project Development Manager), with regular phone and email communication in between, provided continuity and momentum during the pilot period.

The pilot concluded in September 2005, but with additional support from Arts Council England, North West and contributions from the individual artists, PYLON continued working with Michelle Hirschhorn on a series of projects in 2006 to build on its growing profile.

Michelle Hirschhorn left the group in 2007 to pursue other projects, but the artists remain associated through the PYLON network.