The NewBridge Project

16/10/2026

We’ll be closed from 3.30pm today and will reopen at 5pm for the preview of Form and Display!

Form and Display is a collaborative art exhibition designed and created by members of The NewBridge Project and their Shieldfield neighbours. Featuring the work of around 100 artists, the exhibition reflects the diversity of The NewBridge Project community, including studio holders, artists on NewBridge’s development programmes, young members of the Shieldfield Youth Programme, and many other people living in and working in Shieldfield.

Works include painting, sculpture, film, and writing displayed in, on, and around a collaboratively built structure. Form and Display reflects NewBridge’s inclusive approach to the arts and explores art as a collective social practice, foregrounding the labour, relationships, and organisational work that underpin it, and celebrating the practices and artwork of the NewBridge community.

The first hour of the preview will be a dry hour, with a paid bar from 6pm. We’re so excited to show you all the fantastic work, and we can’t wait to see you there!

Can't make it tonight? Form and Display is open 17 October—18 December 2026 during regular hours.

Form and Display is supported by North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.

14/10/2026

Sneak peek of Form and Display! 👀

During our team meeting, we walked through our upcoming exhibition, Form and Display. Led by Communities Producer Dan Goodman, we saw the fantastic work our members and Shieldfield neighbours have designed and created collaboratively.

Featuring the work of around 100 artists, the exhibition reflects the diversity of The NewBridge Project community, including studio holders, artists on NewBridge’s development programmes, young members of the Shieldfield Youth Programme, and many other people living in and working in Shieldfield. 🌱

Form and Display opens Friday 16 October, 5–8pm, and runs 17 October to 18 December 2026.

09/10/2026

How, where, why and when do you start a conversation, or find a way into one that’s already underway? Jenny Richards and Sophie Hope (Manual Labours) take a broad look at conversation and dialogue in social practice, with a focus on starting points.

📅 Friday 23 October 2026, 1–3pm
📌 The NewBridge Project, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1AL

We’ll get into the awkwardness of talking to strangers, the ethics of “the invitation” and questions of consent, and share some of the weird and wonderful lengths we’ve gone to to talk with people we wouldn’t otherwise meet. We’ll reflect on what motivates us to meet and engage with others as part of an arts and research practice, and discuss where these conversations go.

Expect a mixture of anecdotes from Sophie and Jenny’s varied experiences, alongside some conversational, hands-on activity. You don’t have to be a socially engaged artist or social practitioner to join us. This session is for anyone interested in humans talking with humans about ideas.

Please visit our website to book your ticket: https://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/kaleidoscope-network-conversation-and-dialogues-in-social-practice/

09/10/2026

With only one week until Form and Display opens, we’re looking back on one of our ‘Built It’ sessions, where NewBridge members and neighbours* came together to build the structure that will house everyone’s work!

Thanks to everyone who helped out during the sessions so far. We have two more ‘Place It’ sessions left, where exhibiting artists work in small groups to develop the exhibition as artworks accumulate and respond to one another.

We’re so excited to show you all the fantastic work! See you Friday 16 October, 5–8pm, for the opening of Form and Display.

*NewBridge members and neighbours include studio members, hot-deskers, associates, The Collective Studio and Create/Disrupt members and anyone who takes part in our regular groups such as Shieldfield Youth Programme and Memory Cafe.

Form and Display is supported by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.

Image credit: Copyright Hazel Plater

29/09/2026

We are supporting over 70 artists to exhibit their work in our upcoming exhibition, Form and Display. The exhibition will feature work from NewBridge members and neighbours, including work made by Shieldfield Youth Programme, Memory Cafe and Coffee Mornings.

In addition to the gallery walls and floor, a co-built and co-designed display structure will hold artworks to sit on, in, or around. Thank you to everyone who turned up for the Build It sessions, and to our experienced technicians and NewBridge studio holders for their support: Joe Shaw, Eve Cromwell and Joseph Jivan-Pengelly. 🔗

We'd love to see you for the preview of Form and Display on Friday 16 October, 5–8pm, or catch the exhibition from 17 October to 18 December 2026, during our regular opening hours!

Form and Display is supported by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.

24/09/2026

We are happy to be sharing NewBridge’s first annual impact report!

This report celebrates our work and accomplishments in 2025-26, and the people who make it happen.

It has been five years since we moved into our building in Shieldfield, and this report reflects how those early relationships and connections have continued to develop and flourish. With a further five-year lease at our Shieldfield home through 2031, we can continue to build on these achievements.

Through exhibitions, artist development, food and gatherings, we’ve celebrated many cultures, generated creative collaborations, and placed artist and community voices at the centre of our programmes.

“I wouldn't be an artist in Newcastle if it weren't for NewBridge; it has provided me with a space to collaborate with other artists, develop my practice and be a part of a community." Studio Member

“Shieldfield Youth Programme means to me new experiences, nice moments, getting to know people better and just bringing people together.” – Bruna, Shieldfield Youth Programme.

A big thank you to everyone who has made our work possible over the last year – our brilliant NewBridge team, artists and freelancers, studio members, residents, committee members, our trustees, supporters, and all who have visited or taken part in our exhibitions, projects and events. Thanks to our incredible funders and partners, including Arts Council England, Community Foundation North East, Garfield Weston Foundation, Jerwood Foundation, Newcastle City Council, Newcastle University, North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, and Youth Music.

This report was designed by Niall Greaves and made possible with support from Newcastle University Business School.

Visit our website to read about our work with artists and local communities, our public exhibitions and projects, and our plans for the future in our Impact Report 2025-2026: https://thenewbridgeproject.com/online-resource/annual-impact-report-2025-2026/

22/09/2026

The gallery is taking shape for our upcoming exhibition, Form and Display! 💥

Thanks to everyone who came to the first Build It session on Saturday. There will be two more sessions for you to build part of the structure that will house the work in the exhibition:

→ Friday 25 September, 10am–4pm
→ Saturday 26 September, 10am–4pm

No booking needed, just drop-in! You are welcome to join us for one or more days, and you don't need to attend the whole time!

You'll work alongside experienced technicians and NewBridge Studio holders with support from NewBridge staff, to co-design and co-build the display structure, creating opportunities for practical skill-sharing, collective problem-solving, and the joy of working together.

Tasks may include, but are not limited to, planning the build, drilling, cutting wood, painting surfaces, holding ladders, and deciding together where things need to go. You'll have a range of tasks to choose from, so you can take part in whatever feels comfortable for you. No previous experience needed! 🔨

After construction, NewBridge members and neighbours will install their work in, on, or around the display structure. Form and Display opens Friday 16 October, 5–8pm and runs 17 October — 18 December 2026.

18/09/2026

Last week we took a staff trip to see the shows at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art! 🌞

We started at the top of the building to see Chitra Ganesh's Journey to the Great Below and worked our way down to Tish Murtha & Kuba Ryniewicz's Close to Home. 🌱

We are so proud of our studio member Kuba; what an achievement the exhibition is! Make sure to visit before 4 April 2027; you might even spot some more NewBridge members in Kuba's photographs and videos! 👀

17/09/2026

Join artist Bethany Stead for October's Memory Cafe to continue making papier-mâché masks and finish the masks with paint and collage! In the previous two sessions, we looked at examples of masks throughout history and began constructing the masks' skeletons.

📅 Thursday 1 October | 2–4pm
📌 The Forum Cafe, 26 Wretham Place, NE2 1 XU

Memory Cafe is a drop-in afternoon tea and creative workshop that provides a dementia-friendly space for people, in collaboration with The Forum Cafe. You don't need any prior experience to participate in the creative workshops. While the Memory Cafe is open to everyone, it primarily caters to adults with dementia and learning difficulties in the Shieldfield area.

Bethany Stead is an artist working across drawing, painting, sculpture and textiles; she makes visual stories of image and object to form reimagining in response to socio-political barriers.

Image credit: Victoria Doyle

15/09/2026

A £2500 grant from the Riddell Family Fund has helped us deliver Shieldfield Sounds, an anti-racist music project championing the voices of young people in Newcastle. Thank you Community Foundation North East for supporting the Shieldfield Youth Programme.

The funding helped 23 young people aged 13 to 17 access creative opportunities that may otherwise have been out of reach. Through free sessions, professional guidance and visits to cultural venues, participants explored the issues that matter to them while developing skills in songwriting, performance, recording, sound production, mixing and DJing.

Lib Hodes, Youth Worker, said:
"With vital funding support from the Riddell family, this project has helped the young people we work with create, explore, take risks and reflect on what it means to grow up at a time when barriers are many, and opportunities are few. The young people of Shieldfield's voices have been heard through the power of music, and we are excited to see what they get up to in the near future."

Dadiva, a member of Shieldfield Youth Programme, said:
"This project has made a difference in Shieldfield, and with everyone associated with it. People like me are interested in music because we get inner creation – and it unlocks a new feeling that we've never felt before. I'm excited about the future, because of what we were able to do this year!"

Read more here: https://www.communityfoundation.org.uk/case-studies/young-voices-in-shieldfield/

Shieldfield Youth Programme is an ongoing programme of activity developed by Dwellbeing Shieldfield and The NewBridge Project in collaboration with young people living in Shieldfield.

Riddell Family Fund turns up the volume on young voices in Shieldfield - Read more on Community Foundation.