Etch have advised that due to the success of their Creative Catapult Pilot they’ve been asked to offer another programme. Please contact maria.lannon@enterprisemadesimple.co.uk if you want to find out more or to book a place on this fully funded programme. ETCH advise the forthcoming 8 day course covers all the essential tools creatives need to operate a successful business including:

Business planning…contracts and invoicing….bookkeeping….confidence building….marketing….branding….selling overseas….intellectual property…pricing and negotiation…..strategy planning….design thinking…. writing funding applications…and much, much more!!!

Take your business to new heights!!!!

Eligibility:  You live in Tees Valley and are 19+…that is it!!!!

This programme is suitable for ALL stages whether you haven’t started yet or been trading for years!!!  You will be in a supportive environment and will make amazing new connections along the way!!

This is the new programme taking Tees Valley by storm and specifically tailored for creatives!!!

Here are the dates ( 8 days in total)
Thurs 28th and Fri 29th Nov
Thurs 5th and Fri 6th Dec
Thurs 9th and Fri 10th Jan
Thurs 16th and Fri 17th Jan

Thanks to the fantastic Tees Music Alliance for sharing the information below on a forthcoming Sonic Futures event in Darlington, see below.

Do you want to help Tees Music Alliance & Generator plan their upcoming Sonic Futures programmes? They’d love to hear your ideas about what should (and shouldn’t!) be included, so why not join them on Friday 15th November (11am-1pm) at The Forum Music Centre, Darlington

What is Sonic Futures?

Sonic Futures is a visionary, TVCA-funded programme dedicated to nurturing Tees Valley’s next generation of musical talent while strengthening the region’s musical infrastructure. By combining the expertise of Tees Music Alliance and Generator, Sonic Futures seeks to establish Tees Valley as a vibrant hub for music creativity. 

With a focus on professional, organic, and sustainable growth, this initiative aims to empower local artists and industry professionals, fostering long-term success and cementing Tees Valley’s role in shaping the future of music on both local and national stages.

Thanks to everyone who attended the opening event for Helen Winthorpe Kendrick’s latest exhibition, Recycled, Reused, Revealed, and to Helen for a fantastic insight into themes which have informed her latest exhibition. The exhibition will be on display in the Art Gallery at Darlington Library until Thursday 19th December 2024 during standard Library opening hours Monday to Saturday. It’s free to explore and we hope you’ll find it interesting if you pop in.

We’ve recently been advised of an exciting initiative that The Bowes Museum, NAS (National Arts Strategies) and Derby Museums have just launched called Durham Creative Community Fellows, centered around the inspiring arts and culture community of County Durham.

Applications are now open for a free, nine-month fellowship that begins in February 2025. The programme is open to artists, community organisers, administrators and creative entrepreneurs who are driving positive social and physical transformations in County Durham through their arts and culture projects. The cohort will form a community of practice, enabling a range of ages and professional experience levels to connect and collaborate as they learn and grow with their peers.

Anyone interested in the programme can learn more on the Museum’s DCCF webpage and must apply by 11^th November 2024.

An online information session will be held on Tuesday, 22 October at 3:00pm where Creative Community Fellows alumni from the UK programme will give an overview of the experience and application process, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions in a Q&A. People are able to register via the website here.

Lisette Auton, photograph Laura Tindall

Kate Fox

Rowan McCabe

As part of the Your Library Story project to creatively celebrate the reopening of Darlington Library in September 2023 post restoration, Darlo based writer Lisette Auton has coordinated monthly ‘Do Stuff With Words’ sessions for adults at Darlington Library, encouraging people who signed up or dropped in to create new work and explore their writing practice. Supported by Arts Council England through Project Funding, this writing programme will reach its finale with an evening Do Stuff With Words event at Darlington Library, on the evening of Wednesday 23rd October 2024, details below, for which tickets are on sale now priced £4. Click here to book yours now or find out more about this event. At an earlier March 2024 evening sharing this year, a number project participants, joined Lisette at Darlington Library to share readings of their work to date, no mean feat given there wasn’t a free seat in the Art Gallery. With months more writing in place for participants to share, alongside the brilliant Lisette Auton, Kate Fox and Rowan McCabe, we’re looking forward to a great evening and hope you’ll join us there!

Do Stuff With Words sharing event, March 2024

Darlo Does Stuff With Words with special guests Kate Fox and Rowan McCabe, hosted by Lisette Auton

Wednesday 23^rd October 2024

Doors open 6.30pm

Event starts 7.00pm (running time 2 hours with an interval)

Children’s Library at Darlington Library 

£4 per ticket – ticket price includes complimentary drink

Welcome to a celebration of writing with headline sets from the sensational and nationally renowned poets and performers Kate Fox and Rowan McCabe, featuring the work of talented local writers, and all glued together and hosted by Darlington author and performer, Lisette Auton.

Since the beginning of this year, Lisette Auton has been playing with words with a group of writers at Darlington’s Crown Street Library and as their time together draws to a close we invite you to come along and celebrate their writing.

Kate Fox and Rowan McCabe headline this event: Lisette wanted to bring a group of writers together to create community and support each other in their writing, so it’s perfect that two of her absolute favourite writers and performers, who were instrumental to her writing journey, are joining us this evening. Each artist will perform a set from across their widely encompassing catalogue of work – if you’ve seen these artists perform before, you know how much of a treat you’re in for, if you haven’t, prepare to be delighted. Kate and Rowan will have books to sell and sign for you during the interval and after the event.

With writing cutting across all genres and forms, expect the unexpected, high drama, belly laughs and pride at the talent our town holds. Held in our beautiful library, this is a chance to not only listen to writers of national acclaim, to remarkable new writing, but also to meet fellow creatives and word lovers, readers, and listeners.

Kate Fox:

Kate Fox is a stand-up poet, spoken word artist and broadcaster. 

Kate is a regular contributor to Radio 3’s spoken word cabaret “The Verb”, has made two comedy series for Radio 4, been Poet in Residence for the Glastonbury Festival and the Great North Run and completed a PhD in stand up comedy! 

She is the author of “Where There’s Muck There’s Bras: True Stories of the North of England’s Women” published by Harper North, and various poetry collections. She is also a neurodivergent advocate whose latest show “Bigger on the Inside” explores neurodiversity through the lens of Doctor Who. 

Rowan McCabe:
Rowan McCabe is a poet and a professional waffler from Newcastle upon Tyne. Aware that poetry isn’t a proper job, he decided to create his own and became the world’s first Door-to-Door Poet. Knocking on strangers’ doors, he asks what is important to them. He then goes away and writes a poem about this, free of charge, before bringing it back and performing it on their doorstep. It’s sort of like the Avon lady… but with rhymes.

Rowan has also written for Channel 4, Radio 3’s ‘The Verb’ and his work has been featured in the Guardian and on BBC Breakfast. He has performed on stages around the UK, including Glastonbury Festival and the Royal Albert Hall. In 2022, the National Trust published a collection of his work in honour of William Wordsworth’s 250th birthday.

“Ingenious” – BBC Radio Scotland

“Highly talented with verse” – Broadway Baby

“Absolutely riveting” – Attila the Stockbroker

Lisette Auton:

Lisette Auton is passionate about telling the stories she struggled to find – those that reflect her northern, disabled and neurodivergent experience – and making sure that everyone can see themselves in, or are authors of, the stories that are being told. She’s an award-winning multidisciplinary artist based in Darlington, who does stuff with words as an author, playwright, creative practitioner, film and theatre maker, and performer.

She is the author of three children’s books published by Puffin: THE SECRET OF HAVEN POINT; THE STICKLEBACK CATCHERS; LIGHTS UP; and a fourth publishing in 2025, and has multiple commissions writing plays for children and adults. Her film commissioned by New Writing North/Durham Book Festival WRITING THE MISSING – A RIVER CYCLE, the first part of THE WATER TRILOGY, won the Journal Culture Award 2021 for Performance of the Year. She is currently a TVCA Artist of the Year 2024-2025.

Basically, making things with words is the only thing she’s remotely good at, and she’s therefore very relieved that it’s her job.

ETCH the home for North East Creatives have asked us to help spread the word about these forthcoming dates,. They advise there’s a great line up planned and that ETCH has now grown to a community of over 800 and invite you to come along and expand your network and gain some business support.   They look forward to seeing you all soon!!

We try to share exhibitions of many different types in the Art Gallery at Darlington Library, open Monday to Saturday with free entry during standard Darlington Library opening hours. The latest exhibition is by 77 year old artist Roger Birchall, and it was great to see so many people enjoying its opening with Roger on the evening of Friday 27th September 2024, and to read positive comments from those who’ve made them to date,.

Roger selected two works from Darlington Borough Art Collection for display alongside his exhibition, Carnival | Art UK and Well | Art UK, the latter gifted by the Contemporary Arts Society.  We offer artists and groups mounting new exhibitions in the Art Gallery at Darlington Library the opportunity to select works for display from Darlington Borough Art Collection, in a small section of the Art Gallery that’s reserved for this purpose.

A selection of visitor comments on Roger’s exhibition, which contains includes a small selection of paintings and prints for for sale, to date is shown below, and it would be great to read yours on the exhibition, or on other aspects of the visual arts here in Darlington, if you pop into Darlington Library during standard opening hours.

• Amazing artwork that is great to see hung in this exhibition.  The space and light in the building is super.
• Lovely to have a local artist.
• Excellent exhibition – the second in succession in my view!
• Brilliant exhibition, keep up the great work.
• V. impressive. Sort of photo-realism? Good to see DBC collection.

TeesDance & Darlington Hippodrome are looking for dancers aged 13 – 19, or up to 25 with disabilities, who want to embark on an 8-month development programme to become young choreographers!

Apply by the 13 October via TeesDance website: https://teesdance.org.uk/move-up

To find out more about the programme, watch the full video from the last programme funded by Creative Darlington in 2022 https://youtu.be/CY4X66iczok

Repurposed, Recycled, Revealed, the new exhibition by Helen Winthorpe Kendrick will open at Darlington Library Art Gallery on Saturday 9th November and close on Thursday 19th December 2024. The Art Gallery at Darlington Library is open Monday to Saturday, during standard Darlington Library opening hours.

Helen has shared several exhibitions of her work in Darlington Library previously, and there’s an opportunity to meet the artist and ask questions about their practice in the Art Gallery at Darlington Library, from 1pm to 3pm on Saturday 9 November 2024. Each of Helen’s previous exhibitions in Darlington has explored different themes, and with Repurposed, Recycled, Revealed. she advises:

There is growing emphasis in todays’ society to reduce waste and to recycle wherever possible. There is a huge amount of energy required to produce fabrics and sadly, a huge quantity of clothing goes into waste. As a textile artist, I am aware of the great attraction to buy beautiful fabrics and interesting threads with which to work. As a result, I have a room stuffed with threads and fabric that I have not yet used along with textiles from many sources, and short lengths of thread that may one day become useful. In this exhibition my aim is to use what I have, to revitalise and finish projects from the cupboard, to give fabrics another purpose and to turn my stash into something useful. As William Morris said: ‘If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.’

We welcome your thoughts on exhibitions in the Art Gallery at Darlington Library, where local artist, Roger Birchall, exhibition of paintings is on display until Thursday 7th November 2024.

Get ready to bring your creativity to life at the Wey Aye Lego Man 2025 Exhibition! Ngage NE Ltd are on the hunt for artists like you to join this extraordinary event, kicking off on Friday, 2nd May at the John Marley Centre in Newcastle.

This year, Ngage NE Ltd mixing things up! Alongside a stunning display of Lego-themed photography by neurodivergent artists, Ngage NE Ltd are inviting all artists across the UK to take part. Sign up, and they’ll send you a 9cm x 6cm Lego man statue to transform into a unique piece of art. Paint it, sculpt it, bedazzle it—let your imagination run wild!

How to Join the Fun:

1. Sign up now: Visit www.ngageneltd.com to get started.
2. Receive your Lego man: It’ll arrive in January 2025, ready for you to work your magic.
3. Send it back by 14th April 2025: Your masterpiece will be featured alongside other incredible works in the exhibition.

This is your opportunity to showcase your creativity, connect with an inspiring community, and help make the Wey Aye Lego Man 2025 an unforgettable art event. Every customised Lego statue in the exhibition will be auctioned off, with all proceeds supporting projects for neurodivergent people in Newcastle and the surrounding region.

Don’t miss out on this creative adventure—sign up today and let’s make art together!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Wey Aye Lego Man Digital Gallery to explore all the Lego-themed portraits from the 2023 and 2024 exhibitions.