New Writing North, in collaboration with North Tyneside Council and the private sector, commissioned a creative professional (writer/artist) to work with local people in two disadvantaged communities in order to generate various participative artworks.

• Project Dates: 2005 - 2006 (15 months)
• Project Leader: Chris Ray
• Sponsors: New Writing North

By applying professional standards to the aesthetic content and in terms of production quality, the programme aimed to nurture endogenous creative capacity within individuals and at the collective level. It was hoped that skills transfer from creative professionals to local people and the commercialisation of local artwork would enhance the prospects for a sustainable local creative economy. The academic component involved real-time observation of the programme and the evaluation of the various domains and processes whereby cultural capital accumulates. The programme funders were particularly keen to learn lessons of how far this approach is generalisable to other disadvantaged areas. An interim analysis had been published as a discussion paper entitled "Creativity and local regeneration: the possibility of hybrid cultures".

New Writing North