After a long and successful collaboration with Greenfield Community College, Greenfield Arts are sad to announce that they will be leaving the current site at the end of August.
Greenfield Arts was opened in 2000 with the support of the Arts Council and Great Aycliffe Town Council, realising the determination and vision of former Headmaster Mike Thornton.
The centre has served both the school and the community throughout the last 23 years, attracting over 600,000 users of all generations and reaching international audiences.
The Greenfield Gallery has been delighted to welcome and support artists throughout this time, with over 200 exhibitions including Turner prize winner Lubain Himid and three successful Norman Cornish exhibitions that have inspired community programmes and school projects. The gallery – the only facility in Newton Aycliffe – has supported artists and emerging creatives with a regular Open Art exhibition which this year attracted over thirty submissions of outstanding accomplishment. The annual GCSE exhibition is a testament to the students and staff from Greenfield and allowed the students to showcase their work in a professional space.
“We have seen artists develop over the years and gain confidence in exhibiting and progressing their craft and technique, we are very sad to be losing this facility which has brought such joy to so many people and supported the arts and students in every way” said Laura Towns, Arts and Communication Co-ordinator.
Greenfield Arts owes an enormous debt to former Director Katy Milne, who worked alongside the school and the wider arts community to ‘make things happen’ for 17 years. Notably Katy worked with TED prize winner Professor Sugata creating a School in the Cloud original lab, one of seven labs worldwide, bringing creative learning to thousands of young people, including primaries, visiting parties and international visitors. This is just one of hundreds of projects and exhibitions that Katy has instigated and has inspired creativity within our school and community.
The Greenfield Arts programme has been vibrant up until the end with a continuous programme of events and activities in Newton Aycliffe and Shildon, including 60 live performances working alongside theatre groups such as Unfolding Theatre, Theatre Hullaballoo, Take Off Festival, Mad Alice Theatre and individual artists.
The Arts centre is home to our fabulous Cree groups who have offered so much to our community and have worked on projects such as the Little Library Project, the SEN room project, the Supershed for the PCP, the Bamboo sculpture project and so many more that have been cascaded to the community and improved their own confidence and wellbeing.
The Creative Explorers, led by Dawn Belshaw, have been a fabulous group, learning more about the world around them whilst creating and showcasing displays to help others and learn new skills.
The school projects, of which there are too many to mention here but include an amazing input from groups such as the student leaders, the Newshounds, the ‘Make it Matter’ School Conference and the individual awards and prizes such as the Terry Kelly Poetry award, the ‘Our Voice’ project. All of which will stay with young people long after the building has been vacated.
The centre loses a number of groups who have made the space their home, these include: Creative Forum, Creative Wellbeing, Community Pottery, South Durham Dance, ManHealth, Darlington Association of Photographers, Synergy, Everygreen, John Melvin Guitar and Singing, Floral Art and our Yoga and Spanish groups. Thanks to all involved, you have brought so much to our creative community.
A big thank you to all the artists and participants over the years who have supported us and the funders and stakeholders who have made the projects and activities possible. This has enabled us to inspire creative opportunities and produce high quality, dynamic and stimulating arts and activity.
Our final exhibition by Elaine Vizor and Douglas Whittaker is currently on display until 16 August 2023 and the gallery is currently open from 10:00 – 16:00. The centre will close fully on Friday 18 August. Come along and see the exhibition for yourself, it is an amazing journey in photography by two artists who met and developed their journey at Greenfield Arts, very fitting!
Greenfield Arts are currently looking to continue their work and are negotiating new premises within the town to serve Newton Aycliffe, Shildon and the surrounding area. We will keep you informed once arrangements are finalised but, for now, it is a very sad goodbye from all involved, past and present. We wish everyone leaving us good luck for the future and hope to collaborate with schools and communities in the future.