Sign Language Duel, Festival of Ingenuity, Darlington.
Creative Darlington is committed to creating the conditions where an accessible, distinctive and excellent cultural offer can thrive in Darlington, for residents, visitors and those working in the borough.
Our approach is to support the development of original activity, frequently led by artists or organisations, and make this available through a mix of public events, festivals and programmes allied to targeted or bespoke programmes of activity. In 2017 we’ve supported the development and sharing of original activity within The Festival of Ingenuity and supported programmes including Head, Heart Hands and IncludFEST, led by Tin Arts.
In 2018/19 Creative Darlington expects to support the development of original activity and proposals, which can be shared within town centre events.
Conversations in Painting: ‘if it fits in the Fiesta you’re in…’ presented an exhibition of new and recent paintings at Crown Street Art Gallery, Darlington – Saturday 14th October until Thursday 9th November 2017 – showing work made by a group of practitioners distinctly placed in their personal trajectory who sustain a direct connection with the Tees Valley. A collaboration of emerging, established, national and international artists whose collective expertise represents a diverse range of interpretive approaches. Artists commissioned to make work for this show were Sarah Cooney, Deb Covell, Gordon Dalton, Philip Gatenby, Remy Neumann and Alicia Paz. The Conversations in Painting project sought to understand more about how visual arts culture operates in the Tees Valley, especially so through its focus on painting.
Conversations in Painting… Exhibition Preview, Crown Street Art Gallery. Photo Credit : Julian Lister
Conversations in Painting… Exhibition Preview, Crown Street Art Gallery. Photo Credit : Julian Lister
Panel Scenario 01: Painting: politics, practice and pedagogy
Crown Street Art Gallery, Darlington, Thursday 2 November 2017, 6.00 – 8.00 pm
Panel speakers: Kerry Harker (Chair and Independent Curator), Stephen Snoddy (Director, The New Art Gallery Walsall), Tony Charles (Artist and Director, Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough), Alicia Paz (Artist) and Gordon Dalton (Artist).
Taking place within the setting of the group exhibition Conversations in painting: if it fits in the Fiesta, you’re in… the panel will consider artistic strategies of autonomy and collectivism, and their relationship to notions of radical pedagogy and to painting as a practice within the specific context of the Tees Valley.
Conversations in Painting… is an artist led project initiated by Sarah Cooney and Philip Gatenby in partnership with the independent curator Kerry Harker, a co-curated selective review of non-representational approaches to fine art practice. The exhibition is set in the conventions of the white box gallery as a ‘performance space’ for shared conversational dialogue between participant artists and the public. Public events and workshops scheduled throughout the duration of the gallery show will host visitors, guest practitioners, curators, writers, students and invested members of the public as co-participants in panel discussions and seminar groups including the opportunity to participate in artist led painting workshops.
Further information about the project can be found on the project website www.conversationsinpainting.co.uk
