Posts Tagged Newcastle
Tiny Tyneside church beats Canterbury cathedral and Gormley in arts competition
Posted by The Sheet in Architecture News on November 22, 2011
Engraved glass so delicate that frost can change its nature helps scoop top prize for Northumberland. The Northerner's arts monitor Alan Sykes reports
A tiny church high above the Tyne valley has beaten off competition from the likes of Canterbury Cathedral to win this year's Art in a Religious Context award from the charity Art & Christian Enquiry.
The biennial award was made for two commemorative stained glass windows commissioned for St John's church, Healey, in Northumberland, by artists Anne Vibeke Mou and James Hugonin.
Anne Vibeke Mou was born in Denmark and graduated with an MA from the Royal College of Art in 2005 before moving to Newcastle. She has shown in Denmark, Prague and London as well as at the National Glass Centre at Sunderland University. Her work for St John's, which lies between Hexham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is a sheet of glass covered with thousands of tiny impact marks made by hitting the glass with a tungsten point, creating swirling, cloud-like forms which can be seen from the outside of the church as well as from its interior. A hard frost can affect her window, giving it an extra layer of depth.
James Hugonin was born in county Durham and graduated from the Chelsea School of Art in 1975. He has shown at the Baltic and Kettle's Yard in Cambridge as well as in London, Edinburgh and Germany. He is shortlisted for this year's Northern Art Prize www.northernartprize.org.uk which opens at the Leeds City Art Gallery on November 25th. His window is made of small rectangles of glass, some transparent and some translucent, mainly red, blue, yellow and green. Although totally abstract, a double helix form can be made out in the patterns of colour.
The two windows were commissioned as a memorial to his parents Julian & Virginia Warde-Aldam by local landowner, Hotspur magazine editor and churchwarden Jamie Warde-Aldam, a relation of the Quaker Robert Ormston who built the charming neo-Norman church in 1860 (at the third attempt, the nave having collapsed twice during the building process). Jamie says:
Everyone in the parish is delighted with the award. Working with James and Anne Vibeke on the project for a year has been a deeply rewarding, educational experience. They both have the highest standards, are meticulous in their respective methods and showed a sensitivity to each other's work as well as for the character and fabric of the church. Without their generosity, patience and friendship, this commission would not have happened.
The prize is worth £4,000, with £1,500 each going to the artists and £1,000 to the church. Other finalists for the award included sculptor Antony Gormley, who created another of his human figures, this time made up of old iron nails, for Canterbury Cathedral, Jonathon Parson's grid-like Cruciform Vision for Guildford Cathedral, Thomas Denny's Transfiguration stained glass window for Durham Cathedral, and Katy Armes' NoThing for Hellington Church in Norfolk. The judges were chaired by the Dean of Chichester, the Very Rev Nicholas Frayling.
Laura Moffatt, Director of Art & Christian Enquiry, comments:
This year's ACE Awards have once again revealed the depth and diversity of artistic practice among faith communities in the UK. Our short-lists included an Islamic Hall of Remembrance and a major new stained glass window in a cathedral, as well as some very high quality works of art and architecture in small rural parish churches.
Geordieland’s theatrical phoenix spreads its bright new wings
Posted by The Sheet in Architecture News on September 9, 2011
The Guardian Northerner's arts specialist Alan Sykes hails a grand old Newcastle wonder - and a canny piece of gold-buying by those in charge of its restoration
Sitting at the top end of Newcastle's majestic Grey Street (voted Britain's best street by Radio 4 listeners, the Theatre Royal with its warm honey stone, is one of the best loved buildings in the best loved street, and is re-opening after an extensive refurbishment next Monday, the 12th of September.
George III originally gave a royal license for there to be a Theatre Royal in Newcastle in the 1780s, and the outside of the present structure dates from 1837. However there was a devasting fire in 1899 which completely gutted the interior, and Frank Matcham was brought in, effectively building a brand new theatre within the surviving shell of the old one.
Nobody knows for certain exactly how many theatres Matcham built and restored, as his office archive was bombed in the blitz, but estimates go up to 200. Here in the north we've got several of his most important works, including the Grand Theatre in Blackpool and the Wakefield Theatre Royal and Opera House, but many more have been demolished, including the Empire Theatre in Newcastle, the Gaiety in Manchester, the Empire Palace in Leeds and the Grand Theatre in Hull.
Of the nearly £5m costs of the Newcastle refurbishment, about 80% of the money has come from the theatre users themselves who, for the last three years, have been paying a levy of £1.75 on each ticket sold. The Heritage Lottery Fund also helped with £300,000, and Newcastle City Council, which owns the building, paid £250,000 towards restoring the external portico from weather damage, replacing the Victorian external lights and, not least, replacing some lost limbs on the now proudly complete lion and unicorn supporting the royal coat of arms above the entrance. So they and their wonderful supporting corinthian columns, with their plinths gradually increasing in size to take account of the slope in Grey Street, should be safe for another 175 years.
But it's inside that the transformation is most complete – everything is now awash with red velvet and gold. Removing a false wall, ceiling and pokey passageway at the back of the stalls has freed up extra space for 40 more seats even though the seats themselves are roomier, more attractive and much more comfortable than their predecessors. Under a false ceiling they were also lucky to find a complete original barrel-vaulted ceiling, complete with plasterwork features that they were able to copy to replace lost elements in the auditorium ceiling. Little original details include a plaster prow of a Viking ship sailing up the Tyne with the New Castle in the background – it may be historically inaccurate (the castle was built a century or so after the last Viking raid) but is still attractive.
The huge quantity of gold leaf makes the interior literally glow, and works out cheaper in the long run than gold paint, which fades. They were fortunate in their timing, buying the 37,000 pieces of gold leaf needed, weighing a hefty 32 ounces or so, last October, when gold was $600 an ounce cheaper than it is now.
Over the proscenium arch is a white relief of Shakespeare being garlanded by the Muses, on a shimmering gold background – appropriately as the RSC, who are popular regular visitors, will be helping the theatre celebrate its 175th birthday next year with a new production of Julius Caesar as part of the World Shakespeare Festival.
Restoring Matcham's original sightlines means that even the cheaper seats up in the amphitheatre have an excellent view of the stage and outstanding acoustics – in fact possibly better for music than at the back of the stalls, where the overhang of the grand circle can muffle sound.
To the sides are a new bar-restaurant, Pasqualino's, the profits from whose Italian food will help finance the theatre's programme, and a café selling proper Italian coffee.
Although the lighting and so on is all modern, it is all within period fixtures, or faithful copies – or "brand spanking old" as a banner on the outside puts it. With the new carpets (sourced from Yorkshire-based Firth Carpets of Brighouse who supplied the originals back in 1901), red velvet. gold, seating and sight lines all as he had planned them, Matcham could walk in today and be pleased that his original had been so faithfully restored.
It is wonderful that the formerly slightly shabby interior has been so expertly restored and it once again lives up to the glory of the theatre's Grey Street façade.
The Theatre Royal, Newcastle, reopens on Monday 12th of September with a production of Alan Bennett's "The Madness of George III"
Ouseburn: the beating art of Newcastle
Posted by The Sheet in Architecture News on January 4, 2010
Ouseburn's once derelict factories and warehouses are buzzing again with artists' studios, music venues and cinemas. Stephen Emms guides us around
Ouseburn was, until 10 years ago, a monument to an industrial past, its derelict factories, red-brick warehouses and mills lurking in the shadow of Victorian bridges and viaducts less than a mile from Newcastle city centre. Now, this picturesque valley, either side of the river Ouse (once used to carry coal by boat from Spital Tongues down to waiting barges on the Tyne), is the creative heart of Newcastle.
Following years of post-industrial decline, its regeneration, kick-started by community-driven enterprise rather than corporate business (the Ouseburn Trust in partnership with the local authority), has given the area's unique architecture and riverside setting a new lease of life – in the form of artists' studios, live music venues, an independent cinema and galleries. Here's a quick tour to get you started.
1. Cumberland Arms
Not just the best pub in Ouseburn, but arguably the finest in Newcastle itself. Built in 1836 (owner Jo will show you the hatch where women, refused entrance to the main bar, used to be served), it's boozer heaven: wood-panelled, roaring fire, simple furniture, leaded windows, a smattering of salvaged art, and shelves heaving with paperbacks. Session ale is the "Rapper", named after the Northumberland sword dance, and there are six guests, as well as 12 types of cider. An upstairs room plays host to music, theatre and comedy. Its isolated position overlooking the valley means stunning views not only from its terrace, but also the windows of its four spacious, very comfortable bedrooms.
• James Place St, +44 (0)191 265 6151, thecumberlandarms.co.uk.Doubles from £70 a night including breakfast.
2. Star & Shadow Cinema
A converted former prop department for Tyne Tees Television, this tiny cinema is run by volunteers, from film programming and projecting, to gigs and promotion. Every year there is a charmingly named "Building Festival" where volunteers come and help build, improve and restore. One Sunday a month there is a "Make & Mend" arts, crafts and flea market. Meetings every Monday at 6pm, films every Thursday and Sunday, and gigs, films, club nights and art events programmed on Weds, Fri and Sat.
• Stepney Bank, +44 (0)191 261 0066, starandshadow.org.uk. Open daily.
3. Biscuit Factory
Britain's biggest commercial art gallery is a whopping 35,000 square feet over two floors of exhibition spaces and artists' studios. Paintings, drawings prints, ceramics, and jewellery including artists such as Emma Tooth (whose Concilium Plebis are Caravaggio-style portraits of those dismissed as "chavs and hoodies"), and Maria Rivan's stunning 3D collages. My tip is to refresh yourself at the café, which groans with inviting home-made sandwiches and cakes, while contemplating the industrial views over the Byker Wall (see below), rather than at the blandly-furnished, expensive restaurant.
• Stoddart St, +44 (0)191 261 1103, thebiscuitfactory.com. Open daily
4. The Cluny
A former whisky bottling plant a stottie's throw from Byker Bridge, The Cluny is owned by iconic party boozer the Head Of Steam (worth a visit, opposite Newcastle Central Station). As well as a live venue, which showcases both young Geordie bands and international artists, the simple main bar and lounge (runner-up in the Observer Food Monthly's awards 2006 for best quick eat in north-east) offers local ales and informal yet hearty snacks, such as good quality house salads (£6), home-made burgers (£6) and Sunday roasts (£7).
• 36 Lime Street, +44 (0)191 2304474, theheadofsteam.co.uk.
5. Seven Stories
The first museum in the UK dedicated to the art of British children's books protects the heritage of British classics for families and curious adults alike. Temporary exhibitions at the former flour mill (such as the current retrospective for Tiger Who Came To Tea author Judith Kerr, which runs until May 2010) complement the permanent collection, whose earliest acquisition was Puffin Books editor (and Puffin Club founder) Kaye Webb's archive. Philip Pullman is a great supporter and has given work from the His Dark Materials trilogy and the Sally Lockhart quartet. The huge bookshop is free to enter, as is one of the best cafes in Ouseburn, which offers sleepy views over the Ouse – and great mugs of coffee.
• 30 Lime Street, + 44 (0)845 271 0777, sevenstories.org.ukpen Mon-Sat 10-5pm, £5.50 adults £4.50 children
6. Mushroom Works
The scream of gulls and clink and hammer of the docks fill the air outside this hard-to-find gallery, originally a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, in an area once known as the "Mushroom". Opened in 2004 by furniture-maker Nick James, there are 12 studios, including painters, illustrators, jewellery makers, animators, architects, and glass artists. They host eight exhibitions a year, and the shop, with its emphasis on affordability, currently stocks work by 32 artists. The Stairwell Gallery has just opened upstairs, given over to exhibitions by other artists. A 50% off "studio sale" runs from Jan 9-Feb 6.
• St Lawrence Road, +(0)191 224 4011, mushroomworks.com. Open 12pm-5pm Weds-Sat.
7. Northern Print
Northern Print began life in 1994 on Fish Quay, North Shields, and moved in 2006 to a former pottery in Ouseburn. Now a gallery and contemporary print-making studio offering affordable prints as well as classes, it's worth also spending a penny in ceramic artist Paul Scott's impressive tiled toilet. Also, don't miss the large screen-prints decorating the sides of the offices opposite.
• Stepney Bank, +44 (0)191 261 7000,northernprint.org.uk. Open Weds to Sat 12pm to 4pm.
8. Byker Wall
Set between the roar of the flyover and silence of the river, the Grade II-listed Byker Wall, a 1970s primary-coloured brick, wood and plastic-built unbroken block of 620 maisonettes, was placed on UNESCO's list of outstanding 20th-century buildings. Designed by Ralph Erskine in Functionalist Romantic style, the low-rise construction represented a break with the high-rise architectural orthodoxy of the time. Its iconic, triangular Tom Collins House is visible from miles around.
9. Victoria Tunnel
Testament to the achievement of Victorian labour, this two-mile tunnel was built in 1838 for transporting coal from Spital Tongues colliery on the Town Moor to the river Tyne, and in the second world war converted to an air-raid shelter. A short section, with its last remaining accessible entrance on Ouse Street (behind the Hotel Du Vin, see below) re-opened in 2008 to give visitors and locals an experience deep below the city.
• newcastlecommunityheritage.org.
10. Hotel Du Vin
The first hotel in Ouseburn opened in 2008 in the former headquarters of the Tyne Tees Steam Shipping Company, which once served as the company's maintenance depot and storeroom. As such, a nautical theme pervades the 42 rooms, many of which have outstanding views over the Tyne Bridge. Its glass and brick bistro is the most glamorous evening eating option in Ouseburn, even if you're not a resident (great value too with two-course menus boasting locally-sourced ingredients from £15.50).
• Allan House, City Road, +44 (0)191 229 2200, hotelduvin.com/newcastle. Standard rooms from £160. On Sunday nights, spend £75 in the bistro and room is only £25 if you book online.
• Newcastle is served by East Coast Trains: for the best deal on advance fares, book online via nationalexpresseastcoast.com, or call 08457 225225.