Appetite Programme

APPETITE PROGRAMME Poignant pop up exhibition in town centre

Aplayful but poignant pop-up art exhibition highlighting the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the creative sector and local businesses was recently launched in Newcastle town centre.

Appetite partnered with Newcastle BID once again to bring an exciting art exhibition to the High Street. The partnership, with the support of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, worked with DUST Rising to bring their pop-up exhibition Every Other Seat to the town centre, which stayed in situe until mid-March.

The Every Other Seat pop-up featured a fascinating display of seats designed and created by artists. The exhibition was a playful but serious attempt to highlight the impact of the current health crisis on the arts and town centres. The exhibition of seats appeared initially in the former Dorothy Perkins shop window, and expanded to nearby shops over the following weeks.

The exhibition could be viewed from the High Street whilst doing essential shopping, with elements that could also be enjoyed online from home.

The original Every Other Seat exhibition took place last summer in the city centre funded by Stoke-on-Trent City Centre BID. The Newcastle exhibition expanded the number of pieces displayed, with town centre audiences having an exclusive first chance to see newly commissioned works, including seats from art students from Newcastle College and Regent College.

Two newly commissioned poems, by local poets Gabriella Gay and Stephen Seabridge, also formed part of the exhibition. Appetite Director Gemma Thomas said: “Appetite were thrilled to be able to support DUST Rising in presenting their exhibition in Newcastle. “It added to the growing swell of work we are presenting in the town centre in line with current restrictions, which we will build on once lockdown eases. “It is brilliant that art students from local colleges were involved and producing work. It’s so important they can have the chance to show their work in public.”

Director of DUST Rising Joyce Iwaszko said: “This pop-up exhibition explored and highlighted the role that the arts, the theatre and creative people have in the regeneration and the development of a thriving town centre. “We hoped it also reminded people that artists and performers are crucial to the wellbeing of a town, particularly after an event such as Covid19.”

Amy Williams, Newcastle-under-Lyme BID Manager, said: “By reflecting on these extraordinary times, Every Other Seat was a novel concept, borne out of a desire to attribute a theme pertinent to the thousands of theatre seats that have stood empty and redundant for months during lockdowns in the still and silent auditoriums near and far away; where the seats act as a symbolic reminder for the loss of the familiar and vibrant, cultural richness that theatre and art brings to our lives.”

A spokesman for Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council said: “The reasons why people visit and use high streets continue to change across the country, something which has been accelerated by the pandemic. “We’re playing a critical role in shaping the future of our town centre by helping it to respond and adapt to long-term trends – making the most of opportunities – while supporting local businesses in these unprecedented times by distributing grant funding. “We have exciting redevelopment plans in the pipeline thanks to more than £11 million from the Future High Streets Fund and are making great strides in breathing new life into our historic market. “We really welcome and support other efforts to make the town centre more vibrant and exciting. “Appetite is absolutely brilliant at what it does and it’s fantastic that it’s been able to make a series of exhibitions work, for residents’ enjoyment, while we’re in lockdown. It’s also great to promote and nurture young creative talent from the local area.”

Appetite, led by the New Vic Theatre, is the Creative People and Places programme for Stokeon-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. Funded through National Lottery by Arts Council England it has been inspiring people in the area with accessible, high energy, spectacular work for the past eight years.

Every Other Seat was part of Appetite’s growing programme in Newcastle-under-Lyme that now includes the Familiar Faces outdoor exhibition by Adina Lawrence in partnership with GRAIN, a Town Centre Map by Chloe Breeze Illustration, and Newcastle Common.

It also followed the tour of the Three Counties Cubes outdoor exhibition being located in the town centre.