The much-loved Ouseburn Open Studios weekend returns in November, and, as ever, I’ll be making a bee-line for Mushroom Works. I love a mingle, and the Ouseburn Open Studios weekend provides ample opportunity to mix with the friendly community of artist…

Have you checked out ‘Lino North’ at Biscuit Factory yet? It brings together sixteen printmakers specialising in linocut, and it’s a real eye-opener. Linocut, then. It utilises a small set of materials—carved lino block, ink, paper, plus pressure—but …

The ‘Washington Open Exhibition’ returns to Arts Centre Washington this November. Woo hoo! I loved last year’s ‘Washington Open Exhibition’ and I make no apologies here for reproducing one of my favourite pieces, Jessica Courtnell’s ‘Wandering Spirit’—…

Ushaw is the place you need to be if you want to see work by Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid alongside pieces from Rebecca Chesney. This piece (entitled ‘6/9’—pictured) is by Rebecca Chesney and features plaster casts of mugwort, bittercress, fennel,…

Students from the ‘Secrets of the Old Masters’ course step into the spotlight at The Witham in Barnard Castle with a new exhibition going by the name ‘Light and Shadow’. Featuring charcoal sketches, vibrant acrylics, and classic oil paintings, this sho…

Chitra Ganesh’s ‘Journey to the Great Below’ is one of the finest shows of the year and you can still see it at Baltic. This showstopper brings the world’s oldest recorded myth, the Sumerian descent of the goddess Inanna into the underworld, crashing …

Newcastle’s Discovery Museum has launched a new Special Exhibitions Gallery with the first show being ‘Things That Go!’. In the 1950s you wouldn’t find kids gawping at Bluey on an iPad. You’d find them whizzing round terrorising all and sundry in this …

‘Light and Fire: 500 Years of Tyndale’s New Testament’ is an exhibition celebrating perhaps the most dangerous book in history... Staged at Bishop Auckland’s Faith Museum, this landmark showcase marks half a millennium since William Tyndale risked—and …

An exhibition of works by Audrey Amiss, entitled ‘Kitchen Sink Realism’, is the first exhibition to take place at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art’s new home at Culture House in Sunderland. The inaugural exhibition at the NGCA’s new home is al…

There’s a new family day out in Sunderland city centre this autumn. Culture House, The National Centre for Creative Smart Cities on Keel Square is now open, with four floors packed with things to discover, enjoy and explore together. At its heart is Sund…

The UK’s most prestigious art award, The Turner Prize, is coming to MIMA this autumn for what promises to be one of the cultural highlights of the north-east year. Established in 1984, the Turner Prize quickly grew into one of the world’s most feted—a…

A new exhibition in Newcastle looks at the bold intersection of ceramics and fine art. Opening at the Hatton Gallery, ‘The Potter’s Canvas: Ceramics and Painting in the 20th Century’ explores how British studio potters transformed raw clay into vibran…

Sublime Landscapes at the Laing Art Gallery offers a sweeping journey through nature’s raw power and dramatic beauty. Drawing from the gallery’s rich permanent collection, this exhibition traces how artists have captured awe-inspiring environments from…

A burst of expensive ultramarine blue on the walls of South Shields Museum should tell you you’re looking at a very posh painting indeed—Pierre Mignard’s portrait of the Marquise de Seignelay and Two of her Sons (1691). Not that this French noblewoman ap…

The extraordinary work of Tish Murtha is celebrated in the latest exhibition at Baltic in a new show which also highlights the keen eye of Kuba Ryniewicz. As titles go, ‘Close to Home’ couldn’t get much closer to the home area it reflects. The photograp…

This year, the Mining Art Gallery at The Auckland Project are marking the centenary of Tom McGuinness with a powerful retrospective, ‘Out of the Darkness’. A true “quiet man” of the north-east, Tom McGuinness used his art not merely to document the minin…