The Newcastle Arts Centre’s brilliant new exhibition is a family-friendly show looking at the enduring appeal of vintage toy trains and the movies. This fascinating show examines how toy trains, and cinema, have developed, almost side by side, for more th…

‘Harvest: Fruit Gathering’ at the National Glass Centre brings together two of the UK’s leading glass artists: Rachael Woodman and Neil Wilkin. These look good enough to eat, do they not? Please don’t, though – you’d almost certainly die the most agonisin…

‘A Creative Conversation’ is a wide-ranging exhibition featuring four north-east artists that you can see at Gateshead Library. And the four local artists taking part in this exhibition are Ali Barden, Dave Barden, Keith Shaw and Diane Westwood. Lockdown …

‘Companion’ is the first in an ongoing series of exhibitions at Workplace Foundation, which invite curators to look at the gallery’s relationships with artists. Curated by Newcastle-based Curator and Researcher Gayle Meikle this show explores how artists …

Is St. Nicholas Santa Claus? Find out at ‘From St. Nicholas to Santa Claus’ a fab new exhibition coming to Newcastle Cathedral. If you want to investigate the origins of Father Christmas, then December seems as good a time as any. And if you want to delve…

If you’re looking to give yourself a real treat this festive season, then I’d advise a trip to the wonderful Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle where they’re staging a retrospective of one of the UK’s most beloved illustrators: Raymond Briggs. Raymond Briggs’…

Gallagher & Turner’s ‘Open Exhibition’ is becoming an annual fixture over the festive season. Featuring pieces from some of the region’s most exciting artists, it never fails to delight (and, yes, all works are for sale). I love Errol Theunissen’s vibrant…

100 Christmas trees, a 50ft garland, and THIS Nativity scene are just some of the delights that make up The Auckland Project’s Winter Experience. I know what you’re thinking: “A 50ft garland?” But it’s true! The magnificent Throne Room inside Auckland Cas…

Michele Allen is showing two bodies of work at Gateshead Central Library that examine the world around us. And those two bodies of work in full: ‘The Weight of Ants in the World’ and ‘Mud Mapping’. They were made in response to an ancient woodland in Team…

One of the UK’s foremost wildlife artists, Mary Ann Rogers, is holding a series of open days in the run up to Christmas. These open days – at Mary Ann Rogers’ gallery in Hexham – have become a real fixture of the festive season and with good reason. They’…

Luke McTaggart is one of best young landscape artists working in the north-east today, and his latest show ‘Horizons’ is coming to the Bailiffgate Museum and Gallery in Alnwick. “The title ‘Horizons’ reflects the tension present in all of my works, betwee…

A series of new artworks are showing at the Tyneside Cinema that celebrate the venerable institution’s 85th anniversary. Simon Drysdale, Interim Chief Executive of Tyneside Cinema: “We have a really fascinating archive here at the cinema, which includes e…

Gail-Nina Anderson visits the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in Sunderland to check out a stunning photography exhibition from Rimaldas Vikšraitis: ‘Daily Rituals of Work and Play – The Collective Life of a Village 1975-2012’. ‘Daily Rituals of Wor…

Newcastle’s Hatton Gallery are currently showcasing a startling selection of twentieth century masterpieces that must not be missed. Julie Milne, Chief Curator of Art Galleries at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, said of this show: “This is a wonderful opp…

‘The Lost Spells: Listening to a Landscape of Voices’ is an immersive exhibition featuring original artwork, soundscapes and interactive experiences. ‘The Lost Spells…’ features artwork and words by artist Jackie Morris and writer Robert Mcfarlane, which …

Gail-Nina Anderson checks out BALTIC’s latest shows and pulls out four plums. Once upon a time, even within the living memory of BALTIC-goers, contemporary art prided itself on an ivory tower approach, where formal qualities were headlined over content, v…

Need a little bit of love? Try Janina Sabaliauskaite’s moving exhibition, SENDING LOVE, which sees her reaching into her personal life to empower anyone of a queer and feminist background. Sabaliauskaite is a Lithuanian-born and Newcastle-based multi-tale…

‘Permanent Marker’ is a solo exhibition by Manchester-based artist Nina Chua, which you can see at Workplace Foundation. I love the feeling you get when you pop the top off a brand new marker pen (and no, I not talking about the heady aroma). When you’re …