Community Projects

Hartlepool Mural Festival transformed public spaces through large-scale contemporary murals.  Shaped by local community groups, the festival ran for 12 months and celebrated creativity, identity and pride in place.

The festival created opportunities for local engagement through workshops, events and public programming, helping to make art accessible beyond traditional gallery spaces.

Delivered in partnership with the Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust, local people were invited to share memories of maritime heritage from fishing and shipbuilding to dockside life and the merchant navy.

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Over three months, participants brought photographs, objects and personal stories that helped enrich the wider project, ensuring local voices and lived experience remained at its centre.

Working with local community groups and young people from County Durham, the programme used workshops, creative activities and discussion to make a nationally significant seventeenth century painting feel relevant, accessible and connected to contemporary audiences and lived experience.

Created in partnership with Andy's Man Club, this co-produced booklet explored mental health, resilience and creativity through participants' reflections and lived experiences.  Distributed through community spaces, including food banks, barbers, pubs and support services, the project aimed to make conversations around mental health more visible and accessible.

Internationally renowned photographer John Bulmer worked across the North East during the 1960s, documenting everyday life at a time of major social and industrial change.

Using Bulmer's photographs as a starting point, participants shared memories, stories and personal reflections connected to place, identity and changing ways of life.  

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Alongside this, local students were invited to respond to Bulmer's documentary approach by producing their own photographic work inspired by their communities and surroundings.  The resulting photographs were brought together in a  public exhibition, connecting contemporary perspectives with the social histories and strengthening intergenerational connections.

Project managed the region-wide programme marking 100 years since the birth of Norman Cornish. Working closely with the Cornish family, museums, galleries, schools, community spaces and local history groups. Through exhibitions, workshops, talks and community projects, the programme celebrated Cornish's lasting connection to County Durham and introduced his work to new audiences across the region.