November has been a very busy month for us here at East Street Arts, here’s what we got up to.

What a busy month November turned out to be. Our Open Studios event at Patrick Studios, Barkston House, Union 105 and Eleventh Avenue in Gateshead were all successful events. Visitors had the opportunity to talk to artists, view their work, and many artists made sales during the weekend.

For two weeks in November East Street Arts worked in partnership with Leeds’ Basement Arts Project to produce an exhibition in a temporary space (64 Wellington St). Inhospitable featured over 25 local and international artists; the event was hosted in collaboration with SCIBase and the Liverpool Independents Biennial.

As part of Mabgate’s Come Find Us event, Rachel A. Hinds’ Landscapes Real and Imaginary was a collection of vibrant landscape paintings at Patrick Studios that also featured at The Reliance during the following week. Over 13 venues in the Mabgate and Sheepscar area opened their doors to guests. Highlights included Ian Kirkpatrick’s 3D Anubis sculpture at Enjoy Studios, a flash show by third year fine art students at Melbourne Studios (featuring a rather impressive Haitian Lua model on the street), a party in the LS14 Trust Warehouse (with Rebekka Kill playing a fine selection of records), and silk screen printing sessions at Inc Workshop. Great fun was had by all, and it just goes to show what a thriving artistic hub Mabgate is if you scratch beneath the surface.

During Halloween week East Street Arts residents David Steans and Harry Meadley (aka the Leeds Weirdo Club) co-hosted an exhibition – The Panj Piare – at Patrick Studios that featured the rather disturbing Mr.Cider. Steans had written a story inspired by Arthur Machen and H.P. Lovecraft, which appeared in the show. Joseph Buckley, Joseph Lewis, and Hardeep Pandhal also displayed work.

The Canal & River Trust, Arts Council England and the Contemporary Art Society have recently collaborated with East Street Arts to present a new exhibition of work, Chronology, by the artist Lucy Harvey.

Commissioned as an artist-in-residence, Lucy responded to the location and archive material of the Canal & River Trust and created a unique series of sculptural works. As the fourth part of a series of exhibitions at five of the Trust’s offices Chronology encouraged visitors and staff to engage with art in a different environment, outside of the usual gallery space.

Last week 50 third year performance students from Leeds Met took part in a bicycle workshop, in the lead-up to next year’s bike festival in the city. Working in collaboration with Compass Live Art, Leeds artist Dave Lynch led the group through the streets on his rickshaw; the workshop was overseen via video link with Ailie Rutherford. As part of the two-day workshop Matt Adams from Blast Theory visited Patrick Studios to deliver a talk; this jam-packed event was one of the most popular lectures in the past few months.

East Street Arts have also appointed a new member of staff this November, Adelle Stripe (Communications Manager), Welcome onboard!

East Street Arts in the Press:

Karen Watson and Jon Wakeman (Directors of East Street Arts) have featured in the Yorkshire Post and the Yorkshire Evening Post this month. Arts editor Nick Ahad spoke to them at 64 Wellington St about the upcoming 20th anniversary at East Street Arts, describing them as “a beacon for the visual arts in the city”.

To read the full article, please visit: The Yorkshire Evening Post

Newcastle daily The Journal also featured an article on Eleventh Avenue’s Open Studios. Gateshead Council chief executive Jane Robinson, formerly of Arts Council England, said: “As a council we have always understood the importance of supporting creative industries and artists as the role they play in our communities is massive. They now play a major part in our economy and are a part of what makes Gateshead stand out from the crowd.”

To read more please visit: The Journal Live