These wonderful pics were culled from Winchester and St Albans cathedrals where ‘Science’ by Luxmuralis – a sound and light installation – was staged last year. Now it’s making its spectacular way to Durham Cathedral. Are religion and science comfortable …

‘What Does Life After Death Look Like?’ is a thought-provoking fusion of art and introspection that explores the enigmatic realm of existence beyond life itself. See the exhibition in Sunderland this September. This project was sparked through artist-cura…

‘People Powered: Stories from the River Tees’ at MIMA focuses on histories and folk tales that explore how the River Tees has shaped the region. This exhibition – which sees MIMA working in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery – features pieces …

Throughout 2023, the wonderful Buy The Kilo at Tynemouth Metro Station have been highlighting ecological concerns. Showing work at their latest show is artist Kathryn Maguire. Each new news report seems to bring us catastrophic stories from around the wor…

September marks the last month you can see the brilliant ‘Aardman presents The Pirates!’ exhibition at Hartlepool Art Gallery. Hartlepool are having a brilliant year – what with the Tall Ships and all – and the town has also played host to some super exhi…

‘Spin me a yarn’ at the Gallagher & Turner gallery features work from Deborah Snell, Ellie Clewlow and someone called David Hockney, with each artist giving a visual makeover to the words of the Brothers Grimm, Shakespeare and Angela Carter. You’ll have h…

Residents of Peterlee, both past and present, are being encouraged to share their memories of the town as part of its 75th birthday celebrations. A year-long programme of celebrations are currently underway for Peterlee, the town that was established in 1…

‘Scran’ at South Shields Art Gallery & Museum takes a wide-ranging look at food and drink in the borough down through the years. Stottie cakes! Leek pudding! Singing hinnies! Panaculty! Has a region ever produced such evocative food stuffs? In this exhibi…

Jonny Hannah’s ‘Shipbuilders and Fisherfolk’ show at Hartlepool Art Gallery is a real love letter to the town. Jonny Hannah is one of the foremost illustrators in the UK and his exuberant and joyful work has been used by everyone from the Royal Mail to Do…

Are any of the art treasures in the north-east more beloved than the Silver Swan at the Bowes Museum? (Answer: unlikely.) The American novelist Mark Twain saw the Silver Swan at the Paris exhibition in 1867 and described it in his book ‘The Innocents Abro…

How may Shaun the Sheeps can you handle? 10? 20? 50? More? Brace yourself for the amazing ‘Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne Art Trail’. This summer I’m going sheep rustling. My aim? To track down each and every single Shaun the Sheep that have been dotted arou…

A major new exhibition at Redcar Palace celebrates personal acts of creativity. As the backlash against ‘fast fashion’ becomes ever more prevalent, this exhibition – entitled ‘Thread Counts’ – couldn’t be more timely. Through fashion design, photography, …

Reimagine the wonder of wetlands and nature through the eyes of the UK’s best-loved illustrator: Quentin Blake. Head to the wonderful WWT Washington Wetland Centre where you can collect an illustrated guide full of Quentin Blake’s drawings and then set of…

‘The Wonderful World of Ladybird Book Artists’ is coming to the Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery. Ladybird books were phenomenally successful in the second half of the 20th century. They covered a bewildering array of subjects, and much of their appeal lay in…

‘Essence of Nature’ at the Laing traces the radically different approaches to British landscape painting, from the mid-Victorian era through to the 1920s. This exhibition kicks off with a real bang with the Pre-Raphaelites’ ideal of ‘truth to nature’ – re…

The glorious work of Anne Redpath (1896-1965), and her circle, can be seen at the Granary Gallery in Berwick. Anne Redpath was one of Scotland’s finest mid-20th artists. She spent her formative years in Edinburgh but also, mainly, in the south of France w…

‘Sin: The Art of Transgression’ is one of the “must-visit” exhibitions this summer, and you can see it at Auckland Castle over the next few months. What is sin? To a bible-bashing Republican who spends his time stomping around his local Walmat while bello…

‘To the Roar of the Crowd’ explores the depiction of popular Roman spectator sports on everyday objects, and you can see it at Segedunum Roman Fort. When it comes to the Romans, everyone always go a bundle for gladiator fights and chariot-races etc. Such …

‘Beach Scene’ by LS Lowry is now on permanent display at Berwick Museum and Art Gallery, and it’s also the centrepiece of their ‘Lowry at the Seaside’ show. LS Lowry is probably most associated with his urban scenes – all those belching chimneys – but he …