ArtHouses 2017

Two summer evenings on a street in Whitley Bay. The homes, gardens and public spaces of Victoria Avenue become the venue for contemporary visual art, hosted by the householders, and open to all. 

Luke McCreadie

ArtHouses is an event that brings the diversity of visual arts practice into people’s homes and offers artists a unique situation through which to explore the possibilities of working within the street. This year householders selected the works alongside the ArtHouses team. ArtHouses continues to create the possibility of generating new encounters with artworks and opportunities to explore new ways of working in contexts outside of a gallery.

David Foggo

Exhibiting in homes offers something different to a gallery experience, and I feel that the most successful work does not try to hide the fact that the work is displayed in a house. After all, it will never be a white cube, and to try to make it look like one is to bypass the alternative possibilities that the context can bring.

This year ArtHouses presented work by Totaller, Sneha Solanki, Neuschloss, Robert Laycock, Matthew Pickering, Matterlurgy, Luke McCreadie, John Quinn, Holly Argent, Graham Patterson & Sophie Foster, Gayle Meikle & Ross Hamilton Frew, David Foggo, Catrin Huber, Cathy Garner, Carol Lynn and Becky Woodhouse. 

Knit and Natter Group

Pompoms, crocheting, bunting and bollard covers were created by the Knit and Natter group and other participants at the Big Local Shop.

Gayle Meikle and Ross Hamilton Frew

Congratulations to the ArtHouses team (Tracey Tofield, Sophie Buxton, Rob Smith and Lois Hobby) for creating another wonderful event.

Whitley Bay Arthouses 2015

This weekend marks the 6th anniversary of Whitley Bay Arthouses, set up and run by artist and Whitley Bay resident, Tracey Tofield.

"The Arthouses programme sees artists install their work directly into the community. Whitley Bay residents and businesses transform their houses and premises into art venues for the weekend and host sculptures, drawings, performances, film and video from a mix of local and international artists, as well as graduates and current students from Newcastle University."

A range of art forms are included in the programme, including paintings, sound and video works as well as performances and drawings.

Victoria Avenue becomes the focal point of the town as numerous houses display signs in their gardens signalling that their doors are to the public, allowing them to experience artworks in a domestic setting.

Tracey says: “Art is for everyone, so the Arthouses programme is all about bringing contemporary art into the heart of the local community. It starts conversations, gives people the opportunity to talk directly to artists, talk to their neighbours, ask questions and discuss and be challenged by what is being presented. The enthusiasm of the householders – who have been so generous with their time and willingness to invite the public into their homes – has been a massive factor in the success of Arthouses in the past.

In previous years we’ve had performances in front gardens and sculptures in front windows.This year, we’re really excited about our ‘bike-in’ – like a drive-in movie theatre, but with bikes! People will be able to come along with – or without – their bikes to a showing of ‘Dummy Jim’, a film about James Duthie, a profoundly deaf factory worker from Aberdeenshire, who in 1951 embarked on a 3 month, 3000-mile round trip from Scotland to the north of Norway. The screening is part of the film’s national tour so we’re delighted that we can include it in this year’s festival programme.”

Erika Servin's prints on tortillas may first appear beautiful and innocent, but on closer inspection they reveal the dreadful reality that is the abuse and murder of Mexican women.

   

http://whitleybayfilmfestival.co.uk/event/arthouses-2015/