Norfolk Street Arts

We are thrilled to announce that we have secured funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to deliver a transformative project in Sunderland city centre! We want to extend a huge thank you to The National Lottery Community Fund and players of The National Lottery for this incredible opportunity to engage with community members and bring positive change to our city centre.

Throughout this project, participants will have the chance to create stunning pieces of artwork and murals, helping to reshape the landscape of Sunderland's once bustling streets. Additionally, you'll be able to design and craft beautiful planters and choose plants that will revitalise our green spaces, bringing a touch of nature back to the heart of the city.

We are also excited to collaborate with local businesses to showcase your creations, with your murals and artworks being displayed in shop windows throughout the city centre. This initiative aims to tackle feelings of isolation and loneliness, improve mental health and well-being, inspire creativity and ensure the community has a say in how our shared area looks. By enhancing civic pride, supporting the local environment and economy, and creating a lasting legacy we hope to build something that the entire community can be proud of.

Stay tuned to find out how you can get involved in this exciting project. Together, we can transform Sunderland!

FANTASTIC NEWS – NATIONAL LOTTERY HERITAGE FUND GRANT SUCCESS

We are delighted to announce that we have successfully secured funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver a transformative community project in Sunderland, which will be starting in the coming weeks.

Before we go into more detail about the project, we would like to express our thanks, appreciation and gratitude to players of The National Lottery and to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for allowing our project vision to become a reality. Without you, this project would not be possible, and we are incredibly grateful to be able to deliver this project. Furthermore, we would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Sunderland BID who have also provided us with funding for this project. We are delighted to have the support of the BID for this project and are incredibly grateful for their belief in our vision for the city’s green spaces.

As an organisation, we are committed to the creation and advancement of more prosperous and sustainable communities, and we know that to achieve this we must do all we can to showcase the local history and heritage on offer in our incredible city. Furthermore, we understand just how important it is to protect the local environment, as without a strong and healthy environment, we are at risk of losing our shared history, heritage and culture. With this in mind, this project will create greener, more vibrant communities that are rooted in collective action and environmentally sustainable practices.

Spanning 18 months, this all-encompassing project will engage participants to reimagine and revitalise shared green spaces throughout Sunderland, with a particular focus on our city centre, which will aid in attracting more visitors into the city and enhance the public’s knowledge of the city’s green spaces and its benefits on the local community.

Our project will be made up of three phases and they are as follows –

Phase 1 – Project beneficiaries will be able to take part in a range of hands-on and educational workshops including urban planning and design, environmental walks and talks, exploring a range of architectural stylistic periods, green planting activities, building and assembling planters, designing advertising content and materials for the project, and also engaging with local businesses who are committed to promoting the history and heritage of the city, plus many more activities. This phase of the project will enable beneficiaries to have a say in how they want our city centre to look and will provide those involved with the opportunity to partake in creating that change and bring environmental sustainability to life. These experiences will help to educate and empower project beneficiaries and the wider public through skills development and knowledge sharing. Together, we will create a more bright and vibrant society that is built on a shared vision and set of goals.

Phase 2 of our project focuses on preparation for our in-person and online exhibition. Throughout this phase, project beneficiaries will be able to get hands-on and help to create the exhibition that will be showcased in the city centre. Not only will beneficiaries be able to have significant input in how the community’s findings and work are exhibited but they will also be able to develop their digital and audio skills by working with industry experts to carefully curate the virtual and digital elements of the project. In addition, participants will also play an instrumental role in the design and implementation of the display boards that will promote the project and exhibition throughout the city. This is a fantastic opportunity to integrate multiple components that will enhance accessibility and engagement, setting the stage for a visually compelling and informative display.

Phase 3- The exhibition

The grand finale of our project will be marked by the public unveiling of our exhibition, celebrating the culmination of months of community collaboration and dedication. The launch of the exhibition will not only highlight the tangible outcomes of our shared efforts throughout the project, but it will also serve as a platform for recognition and reflection. Players of The National Lottery will also have exclusive access to our exhibition before it is opened to the general public.

Ensuring we create a legacy

Beyond the project's conclusion, we are committed to sustaining its impact. Our focus on using a range of native flora not only enhances ecological resilience but also reduces long-term maintenance costs, ensuring lasting benefits for Sunderland's green spaces. Furthermore, by ensuring this project has a long-lasting impact on the environment, it will also encourage native fauna and wildlife to return to the city. We are determined for our collaborations with community groups to continue so we can foster ongoing engagement, and our digital platform will serve as a repository for educational materials and a catalyst for continued learning and community involvement.

We will be releasing more information about the project in the coming weeks, which will include dates and times for events and how to secure your place, so keep an eye on our website and social media pages as you won’t want to miss out. In the meantime, if you are an individual, community organisation or local business and would like to take part in the project please do get in touch to register your interest.

The Marengo Sunderland website is now live!

Check it out, all properties now finally in one place with lots of info on each - and don't forget to like the Marengo Sunderland Facebook and instagram pages if you think you may be looking for commercial workspace or studio space in future.

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Any plans this weekend?
Get yourself to Pop Recs Ltd to watch -

OFFSHORE: Climate justice and workers' rights documentary
Free film screening + discussion at POP Recs
Sunday 28th April at 2-3 pm
20 minute film screening + Q&A and discussion

Tickets are free - register now

OFFSHORE at POP Recs Special Sunday screening of OFFSHORE - short film about climate justice, workers' rights and the energy transition.

Next Sunday!
OFFSHORE: Climate justice and workers' rights documentary
Free film screening + discussion at POP Recs
Sunday 28th April at 2-3 pm
20 minute film screening + Q&A and discussion
Tickets are free - register now
https://bit.ly/3TQ2JNA

Meet the Artist

Jo Howell

Jo Howell has been a professional photographic artist since she left Uni in 2009. Jo is a cyanotype specialist. She uses photography and art to work with other humans in beautiful chaos. Jo works commercially to photograph 3D artworks like glass sculptures.

Jo Howell is an ambitious artist from a working-class background in Sunderland. Her art uses science, nostalgia, and history to explore hidden female narraitves.

​Me & Mary Elenor

​This work started as a commission for The Bowes Museum, she took inspiration from Mary Elenor Bowes, a promising botanist with a scientific understanding of plants. In the 18th century, women were not permitted to engage with knowledge, nor were they allowed to enter the institutions of education. Heinous domestic abuse was inflicted upon Mary by her husband who wished to take her fotube. History lost another potential female scientist to the patriarchy. Her story is relevant today because sex-based oppression still exists.

​This work has grown since its first conception, with people adding, evolving, and strengthening the narrative of the piece.

The exhibition will end on the 21st of April.

Meet the Artist

Museleon

Symbiosis
All life on Earth is made from cells.
Without cells, there can be no life.

Symbiosis looks at the connections between living organisms at a cellular and tissue level via imagined habitats in art and reimagined sound. The ideas of the deep interconnectivity of living things, the beauty and fragility of cells, and the micro similarities of all living things are the basis of this work, where I have been creating A3 drawings in a pen of imagined different habitat types, such as jungles or rock pools created using plant and animal cell types. The overall idea is that all living things depend on each other. We are structurally similar at the cell level and deeply connected and the climate emergency and the human impact on habitats is leading to species decline and extinction. Which includes our extinction.

​A self-taught Audio and Image artist living and based in Sunderland, Museleon has been creating both sound and image works for over 20 years.

​The exhibition is open until the 21st of April

Our exhibition at Hills Street Art has been extended until April 21st! You have more time to immerse yourself in the captivating works of Jo Howell, Pamela Ormston, and Museleon.

We're open on Tuesday and Thursday, and by appointment too! Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to experience the beauty and creativity of their art. Swing by and explore their inspiring pieces before it's too late!

Meet the Artist

Pamela Ormston

At the heart of Pamela's artistic practice is the exploration of connection and my place in the world. Pamela moved to the coast a few years ago having lived in cities since leaving her coastal hometown of Dublin, Ireland nearly 20 years ago. On the surface, her work is a snapshot of life at the seaside and the busyness that is drawn to it. She is fascinated by the hive of human life that scurries and meanders along the edges of the water. She finds inspiration for her work both in the colour and forms that present themselves as well as imagery that provokes memories of the seaside. Although her journey as an artist started years ago – Pamela did a degree in Fine Art and became an art teacher; always dabbling with making and creating along the way – she only really started seriously painting a couple of years ago.

Pamela makes the time around work, children, relationships and life to take care of and nurture this growing practice. Day to day, she works as a secondary school art teacher in Sunderland and lives her working life to the pace of the school bell. She is also a mother to three very lively young children. As a result of these things, she is acutely aware of the speed of passing time. Paintings of these fleeting moments that she observes, Pamela is not just preserving them on a canvas, but meticulously examining and revisiting the moment as she paints.

The exhibition is extended until 21st April.

will be open to the public Tuesday and Thursday 10-4pm to see the last open call exhibition, Environmental Themes. Works by Jo Howell, Pamela Ormston and Museleon.

Hills Arts Centre will be open to the public Tuesday and Thursday 10-4pm to see the last open call exhibition, Environmental Themes. Works by Jo Howell, Pamela Ormston and Museleon.

Due to the closure of Grinder Coffee at Hills Art Centre, the space has become a little less accessible to the public. We are a tiny team of 2 with other jobs so we are working out new opening times for you to enjoy the art until the exhibition closes.

If you would like to visit the exhibition you can email Michaela at [email protected] or private message us on our socials to arrange an appointment.

Thank you for coming to our celebration event!

Open call #11 Environmental Themes
Jo Howell, Pamela Ormston and Museleon.

This Friday! (15th March)

6-8pm

You are invited to join us for bubbly and refreshments to celebrate the launch of our 11th and final open-call exhibition at Hills Art Centre.

This month, we celebrate three artists whose work was selected for our 'Environmental Themes.' open call. Join us to view the three artists Jo Howell, Pamela Ormston and Museleon. Experience their work, and hear the stories behind their collections.

This event operates with an optional 'pay as you feel' model, helping us cover the fee for drinks and refreshments. Any extra income will return to help support Hills Arts Centre and our exhibitions.

Open for all tomorrow!

Please join us this Friday for a celebration evening with artists Jo Howell, Pamela Ormston and Museleon.

Celebration Evening
Hills Art Centre
15th March 6-8pm

Meet the Artist

Claire White

Claire is a textile artist and loves producing work that is both decorative and traditional in its look but with a subversive social twist. Claire is a disabled artist and this informs their themes and practice. Recently much of Claire’s work has been around body shame. Using body prints or drawings from self-portraits to create the backbone of paintings before sewing into them giving them text and statements for discussion. Claire loves to explore socially engaged themes that affect the wider community. Ableism, Disability, Addiction, Shame, Trauma, Narcissistic Abuse and how society interacts with all these, judges and views, the lives of those affected.

The exhibition ends on 10th March.

The next exhibition for March is our 11th and final Open Call - Environmental Themes.

Exhibiting work by -
Jo Howell
Pamela Ormston
Museleon
12/03/24 -13/04/24

Celebration evening - Friday 15th March
18.00-20.00

Meet the Artist

Nadia Thompson.

Nadia Thompson (nee Zedan) is a contemporary artist whose art is expressive and often abstract in nature. Self-taught, she prefers to create instinctively; drawing inspiration from her thoughts and feelings as she paints. Music and movement often take centre stage in her practice as she layers a variety of mixed media into her paintings. Meaning is at the core of everything she creates and her pieces often speak to injustices and hardship within the world.

​Nadia has a BEng in Computer Science from York (focus: Human-Computer Interaction), and post-COVID spent 2 years on an education charity board. Following over a decade in the corporate world as a regulatory reform project manager Nadia found art later in life, and set up her own in-house studio in 2022. She spent a year undertaking hand sculpting tutelage with Esther Nelson, bringing 3D structure to her work. Her environmentally-themed piece, In Nature’s Way, was selected as a finalist in Explorer’s Against Extinction Sketch for Survival 2023 and her series on post-partum body positivity was recently featured in T’Art Magazine.

The exhibition ends on the 10th of March.

The last exhibition of the open calls at Hills Art Centre.

Environmental Themes.
12/03/24 -13/04/24
Celebration Evening - 15th March 18.00-20.00
Hills Arts Centre

Jo Howell
Pamela Ormston
Museleon

Meet the Artist

Debbie Todd
Debbie has thrived in her professional practice after completing her MA at North School of Art in 2023. Focusing her photography on socially engaged projects, she shoots campaigns around marginalised communities. One of her campaigns was a UK-wide campaign for the Child Organ Donation Campaign in association with Red Sky Foundation and FUJIFILM.

​The work on display is a selection from the series - The Meaning of Being Different.

"All of my work is centred around people and how our different lifestyles, thoughts and feelings provoke reactions in other people. I like to take portraits that tell a story about the sitter, whether it be documentary, fashion or fine art is irrelevant. My most recent body of work examines the physical, medical, neuro-diverse and lifestyle differences of people in the UK. It looks at how these people are viewed and why preconceptions are made about them as a person using proverbs and idioms that have been used regularly without much thought on how it makes them feel. The work has been created to initiate conversations about language and promote the use of more people with differences in the photographic industry."

- Debbie Todd.

The exhibition ends on 10th March.

Last week to see the latest exhibition.

Open call #10 Neurodiverse Artists.
Debbie Todd // Nadia Thompson // Claire White
10/03/24.

Check out the website for more information about the artists and a 3D exhibition tour.

Neurodiverse Artists. | Mysite After completing her MA at North School of Art in 2023 Debbie has thrived in her professional practice. Focusing her photography on socially engaged projects, she shoots campaigns around marginalised communities. One of her campaigns was a UK-wide campaign for the Child Organ Donation Campaign in as...

Check out the beautiful detailed works of

This work is a part of Open call #10 Neurodiverse Artists.
Debbie Todd // Nadia Thompson // Claire White

The exhibition is open until 10th March 23.

Please join us in the gallery space Thursday 7th March
2-4 pm for a Neurospicy conversation with the artist Claire White.

Claire is a textile artist and loves producing work that is both decorative and traditional in its look but with a subversive social twist. Claire is a disabled artist and this informs their themes and practice. Recently much of Claire’s work has been around body shame. Using body prints or drawings from self-portraits to create the backbone of paintings before sewing into them giving them text and statements for discussion. Claire loves to explore socially engaged themes that affect the wider community. Ableism, Disability, Addiction, Shame, Trauma, Narcissistic Abuse and how society interacts with all these, judges and views, the lives of those affected.

If you want to know more about Claire’s work on display or are a part of the Neurodiverse community and want to talk about your experience or just to listen please come along for this free event. These conversations will be the start of new works by the artist.

Drop in
Free to attend.

Now open!

Open call #10 Neurodiverse Artists.
Debbie Todd // Nadia Thompson // Claire White

Hills Arts Centre
The exhibition is open until 10th March 23.

Thank you for coming to our celebration event!

Open call #10 Neurodiverse Artists.
Debbie Todd // Nadia Thompson // Claire White



Exhibition open until 10th March 23.

New week, new show!

Open call #10 Neurodiverse Artists.
Debbie Todd // Nadia Thompson // Claire White
12/02/24 - 10/03/24
Celebration evening - Friday 16TH Feb.
18.00-20.00