The Auxiliary Project Space started in 2016 as a self-funded, sound-art residency in Stockton and has grown into one of the leading artist-led organisations in the North East, backed by an unstoppable creative community. A National Portfolio Organisation for Art's Council England since 2023, The Auxiliary is based in an 11,000sq foot creative complex in the heart of Middlesbrough, currently undergoing a capital development project supported by funds from DCMS's Cultural Development Fund and TVCA's Middlesbrough Development Corporation. The Auxiliary is home to 25 studios, an exhibition space, an experimental music venue and a growing community programme, welcoming over 100 artists annually through the artistic programme.

From the beginning, The Auxiliary has worked to counter the inertia of dormant, vacant retail units in Tees Valley, acting as an instigator in the town centre, providing artists with the resources, spaces, and community needed to thrive. Auxiliary’s two sister festivals, Sonic Arts Week and Middlesbrough Art Week, work with artists at all stages, from graduate and early career talent in the region to internationally recognised practitioners. The Auxiliary is a founding member of the Middlesbrough Cultural Partnership, represents the visual art sector on TVCA's Creative Place Advisor Group and is an active member of the Tees Valley Festival Network. As part of an ecology of artist-led organisations in Teesside, The Auxiliary has been pivotal in transforming Middlesbrough’s industrial landscape into a site for experimental, artistic and cultural disruption.

Our Team

Liam Slevin - Artistic Director

Liam Slevin is the artistic director of The Auxiliary Project Space. After graduating with a Fine Art degree from Limerick University in 2007, Liam opened his first gallery, theSPACE, in Cork city. In 2009 he opened TACTIC gallery, a curator focused gallery space. In 2011 he moved to Berlin and ran several pop up spaces including Klo, and worked with groups such as Salon Bruit and NK Studios. He has taken part in residencies in Iceland, Detroit and Berlin. He moved to Tees Valley in 2016. Liam devises and manages the artistic programme of the The Auxiliary, Middlesbrough Art Week & Sonic Arts Week
Edel O Reilly - Director

Edel O'Reilly is an Irish curator and organiser now working as executive director for The Auxiliary and Middlesbrough Art Week. Informed by a background in artist-led initiatives and collaborative production models, she has worked across Ireland, the UK and Europe. In Belfast, she worked as a co-director at Catalyst Arts and was an associate member of Array Studios. Following post-graduate studies at the Dutch Art Institute, she worked as Curator of Exhibitions at Aalto University, Finland focusing on the strategic development of the university's exhibition activities. She has previously worked within the exhibition, gallery and project teams at Belfast Exposed Photography, Frieze Projects London, Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin, Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing.
Sue Loughlin - Community Connector

Sue Loughlin is an artist whose work is rooted in sculpture, painting and installation, and encompasses education, social engagement, curation and project production. Sue works extensively with art organisations and Cultural Learning Partnerships across the North East and is the founder of MOTHEROTHER, a mutually supportive network for artist parents and carers in the region and has 15 years of experience delivering and leading art education both regionally and internationally. Sue was awarded a Creative Development Fellowship by Sunderland Culture in 2019, completed The NewBridge Project's Collective Studio Programme in 2020, and the UNION 23 Social Practitioner Programme from the Northern School of Creativity and Activism in 2023.
Dani Fejér - Communications Producer

Born in Teesside, Dani studied Menswear Design at Ravensbourne University and went on to spend many years working in creative marketing within the cycling industry. Her practice is focused on experimental photography, mixing materials and techniques.
Beth Hinde - Gallery & Studio Coordinator

Beth Hinde is an artist based in Teesside, she studied Fine Art (BA) and later completed a Master's in Arts Practice at The Northern School of Art. Her practice focuses on how the use of light and projection can be used to explore individuals' stories, focusing on personal narratives and everyday experiences.
Will Hughes - Artist Development Lead

Will Hughes is a Teesside-based visual artist exploring aspiration, queerness and glamour through casting, layering and embellished forms. Their practice draws on pop culture to question value and identity. A Tees Valley Visual Artist of the Year winner, Hughes also directs SAWDUST CIC, supporting ambitious local creative production and public-space projects.

Freelancers + Friends that make things happen

Rachel Deakin - Photographer

Rachel Deakin is an artist based in Middlesbrough, her projects are inspired by her immediate environment and include photography, collage, found objects and elements of the everyday. Rachel is co-founder of photography collective WAX and studio holder at The Auxiliary Project Space.
Simon Cole - AV Specialist

If it’s got a wire Simon will make it work…

The Auxiliary Project Space C.I.C. Board

Anna moved to the Tees Valley in 2016 with her partner, Liam Slevin, and founded The Auxiliary and Middlesbrough Art Week. She is the Executive Director of Creative Factory Middlesbrough, an organisation developing sustainable affordable creative space in the town.

Mark founded Thinking Practice in 2010, to write, facilitate, coach, evaluate and advise across the cultural sector. Future Arts Centre published his manifesto/toolkit Tactics for the Tightrope: Creative Resilience For Creative Communities in 2021.
Mark was previously Executive Director, North East at Arts Council England, where he worked 2000-2010. He ran festivals, poetry publishers, arts organisations and worked in adult education in Teesside after an early career in restaurants. Mark is also a widely anthologised poet whose Selected Poems, How I Learned to Sing was published by Smokestack Books. His latest collection, The Infinite Town, takes its title from a public poem installed on the Stockton Flyer plinth on Stockton High Street, and was published by Smokestack Books in 2024. He has published 6 books and been commissioned to create public artworks for light festivals, public art installations, conferences and events.

Ross McPhie is an experienced educator, creative leader and strategist with a passion for creativity, innovation and helping others reach their potential. He currently works in higher education, where he leads and develops programmes that connect creative academic learning with real-world industry experience.
Alongside his academic career, Ross has extensive experience in creative direction, design, marketing and strategic direction, having worked with organisations such as Nike, Berghaus and RipCurl. His background gives him a strong understanding of how creativity, innovation and collaboration can drive positive change.
Ross is particularly interested in supporting emerging talent, encouraging entrepreneurial thinking and exploring how creative approaches can help organisations and communities thrive. He is a strong advocate for lifelong learning and believes the arts and creative industries play a vital role in enriching lives and shaping vibrant communities.

Alessia Cargnelli (she/her b. 1990, in Trieste, Italy), is a visual artist and researcher. Her interests encompass feminist-informed methodologies, self-organisation and activism, within visual arts practices. She is former co-director of the artist-led space Catalyst Arts in Belfast, and current member of the Belfast-based art/activist group Array Collective, winners of the 2021 Turner Prize. She is also co-founder and co-director of the feminist-led initiative Soft Fiction Project. Her doctoral research explored feminist-informed women-artists’ advocacy groups in the 1980s-90s on the island of Ireland. She completed a postdoctoral research project at the National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL) titled Archival Plurality, which focused on underrepresented categories in NIVAL’s collections; such as archival materials from artists and designers coming from diverse ethnic, cultural, gender backgrounds and nationalities. Cargnelli is currently an Enterprise Scheme fellow, developing a two-years post-doctoral research project to establish the first all-island community-led and feminist-led resource centre. The project is funded by Research Ireland (RI) and it is developed in partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin.