2025 brought a few challenges with plenty of highs along the way. From milestones to unforgettable moments, here are a few highlights that made this year one to remember.

Updates from our sessions making birdhouses with Eve Cromwell.

We’re excited to share that artist Alia Gargum has been awarded a Henry Moore Foundation Winter Grant 2025 to produce a new public sculpture as part of FORGED

Common Ground updates from October and November

Join us on Wednesday, 12 November, for our DYCP Masterclass with The Freelancer Network.

Common Ground co-founder Sue Loughlin

Nik Void – Daisy Dickinson – MSHR

We are building a micro-farm for growing our own produce, to eat, grow and share. Along the way we will explore both large and small-scale creative projects for the micro-farm area, from building bee hotels to painting murals.

Countdown to MAW25 closing party

A feature in Toothgrinder. Local is a project from Mura Masa, Toothgrinder Press + Relentless Energy. Spotlighting artists and cultural venues from Teesside, Bradford and Blackpool

Auxiliary X The Freelancer Network Project Management and Exhibition Install Training Session | Wednesday 16th July | 6-8pm

Sonic Arts Week Festival Programme is now live. Head over to the website and plan your week

Auxiliary X The Freelancer Network Pecha Kucha Artist Social | Thurs 12th June | 4-6pm

A visit from ACE and a trip to the warehouse

Join us for a relaxed, practical workshop designed for Tees Valley-based creatives looking to develop their marketing and comms skills through an artist-led lens.

Second in a series of exhibitions opening 15 May Unseen/Seen Curated by Amirehsan Nouhi

Upcoming exhibition 1 May The Thread that Binds. Curated by Azeez  Aromasodun

Studios are on the way. Become a studio holder

Review of Homing by Azeez Aromasodun: A Dialogue Between Place and Identity

Are you ready to take on Sonic Arts Week 2025? Mark your calendars as SAW returns this June. Curated by the team from The Auxiliary Project Space, SAW is your ticket to cranking up the volume.

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Tees Valley Solo Show is Latvian-born photography, filmmaker and visual artist Sigita Silina.

A review of Richie Culver’s Coping by امیراحسان نوحی Amirehsan Nouhi. Take a look inside Industrial Coast’s Unit 41

We have won an Innovation Tees Valley industry award for making a significant and lasting contribution to the cultural landscape

We are thrilled to be working with local artist Stuart Langley who has been commissioned by Navigator North to create a striking new public artwork for the programme.

Now Closed / Open Call: Solo Exhibition Award: This year we are delighted to offer one Artist or Artist collective, based within the Tees Valley a solo exhibition of their work at Middlesbrough Art Week 2025.

From 23 November - 13 December | Solid Ground is an exhibition to showcase some of the unsung heroes of the Teesside creative community. 

We've been featured in the latest edition of Art Monthly with a fantastic write up from Tom Jeffreys

Over the past 16 years, artist-filmmaker Kerry Baldry has been curating and organising an innovative series of artists' moving image programmes titled One Minute.

We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who joined us for Middlesbrough Art Week 2024. This year, we asked the questions: How do we grow a festival? Who has the right to take action? Can art help shape communities?

SPARK is an arts project and initiative developed by us and funded by Borderland with support from MBC and Arts Council England.