More Than Meanwhile Spaces-II

More Than Meanwhile Spaces II was a collaborative project run by an interdisciplinary multi-organisational team comprising academics at Newcastle University (Dr Emma Coffield, Dr Paul Richter, David Butler, Dan Goodman and Julie Monroe), The NewBridge Project (Rebecca Huggan), Northumbria University (Dr Rebecca Prescott) and Newcastle City Council (Robin Beveridge). It ran from March 2019-March 2020 and involved over 80 artists, creative practitioners, local authorities, funders, academics and interested parties.

The project picked up from a previous series of events (More than Meanwhile Spaces, March 2018-19) that explored long-term support for artist-run initiatives in Newcastle and Gateshead. A key point that emerged here was that artist-run initiatives and workspaces were often ‘invisible’ when it came to longer-term support, yet were absolutely vital for artists and creative practitioners (as also seen in the Creative Scotland Visual Art Review, where artist-run initiatives were ‘ranked as number one in importance to all survey respondents (2016: 21)). Through our discussions, it was proposed that the North East follow London’s lead and establish something akin to a Creative Enterprise Zone – but there was little to no capacity in the field to take this idea further. As a result, this second project aimed to bring a regional network of stakeholders together over a series of six events, and to use the Creative Enterprise Zone model as a stimulus for discussion – and action – in the North East of England (e.g. Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle, South Tyneside, Gateshead, Sunderland and Durham, although representation from these areas differed across the project).

 

Download report PDF: More Than Meanwhile Spaces-II (1.7MB)