The NewBridge Project Gallery is closed throughout March. NewBridge Books will be open as usual.

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Our History

The NewBridge Project was founded in 2010 by Will Marshall and Will Strong as an initiative to provide exhibition opportunities, affordable studio space, and a support network for recent graduates and early-career artists.

The organisation was originally based at Norham House on New Bridge Street West. Though initially conceived as a pop-up space for 1 – 2 years, the organisation remained there until March 2017. The 5-storey office block provided studio space for 80 artists, and temporary project spaces for hundreds of artists and creatives. The street-level, shop-front spaces housed the NewBridge Project Gallery Space and NewBridge Books. The final show at this location, Moving on Up, Moving on Out, presented work by over 80 artists who were past and present studio members at The NewBridge Project.

Between 2013 – 2018 The NewBridge Project was led by Charlie Gregory, during which time it established itself as an important part of the cultural landscape of Newcastle and Gateshead. During Charlie’s tenure the organisation achieved Arts Council National Portfolio status, developed a long-term partnership with Newcastle University to deliver bespoke graduate and early-career artist support through The Collective Studio, gained charitable status with a strong and supportive Board of Trustees, and relocated to 2 new sites in Newcastle and Gateshead.

Moving Spaces

After receiving notice on the now-demolished Norham House in 2016, The NewBridge Project moved to a new home in April 2017. Carliol House is a Grade II listed building on Market Street, just around the corner from our first building. Carliol House provided studio and workspace to over 80 artists across the 1st floor and basement of the building.

In October 2017 we opened a second site on Gateshead High Street, this former Woolworths was a publicly accessible space and is home to NewBridge Gallery and NewBridge Books, a number of studios, a co-work space and hosts The Collective Studio programme for graduates and early career artists.

The NewBridge Project moved to a new home in June 2021 at the Shieldfield Centre. This building houses all of our activity under one roof, and provides a welcoming space that aims to be a resource for the creative and local community alike.

Now

The NewBridge Project is currently led by a small and dedicated staff team and operates from the Shieldfield Centre. Our spaces provide space for exchange and support, creating environments where artists and local communities can come together to work, learn and socialise with each other.

The Shieldfield Centre houses over 120 studio members, co-work spaces, flexible project spaces for making and presenting work, and our public gallery space, bookshop and reading room. It also has dedicated studio space for development programmes Create/Disrupt and The Collective Studio, and production/workshop facilities run by our members, including a wood workshop, dark room, film lab and ceramic studio.

Our artist-led programme produces an ambitious programme of exhibitions, performances, screenings, educational talks, workshops and bookshop events alongside our artist members. This creates a programme that reflects the diversity of contemporary art practice, is responsive to the environment within which it exists, that builds solidarity, and that places community-centred, experimental, collaborative and socially conscious programming at its heart.

The NewBridge Project is supported by Arts Council England, Newcastle Culture Investment Fund, Newcastle University’s Institute for Creative Arts Practice and the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

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