Issue 7: July 2002

Opening Time: News

Opening Time: Other stuff

Arting About

Charver Stuff

Doon Yer Neck

Feature: Goths On The Green

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CARPET STAINS CULTURE BID

NEWCASTLE STUFF has been giving the Blue Carpet a good beating these past few months – not because it’s crap, but because nobody responsible will put their hands up and admit it’s crap.

The council’s web site for the Mug’s Rug is as threadbare as the carpet itself. Their incompetence is underlined by the fact the Blue Carpet web cam doesn’t even show their pride and joy: displaying images of a multi-story car park on Percy Street, quarter of a mile away, instead.

One of our readers – that’s you, Skotty – took this up with the artist, Thomas Heatherwick, and found that he agrees with Newcastle Stuff.

"Thomas has received your email about the blue carpet web site and you're right, it is atrocious [says his assistant, Kirsten]. I am trying to find out who to talk to about it at the council. Thanks for keeping us informed.

"Is it always sunny in Newcastle?" she adds, referring to the old web camera pics which hadn’t changed since April.

The Carpet has won a "prestigious" Local Government Street Design Award - a triumph, according to the local press - although this meaningless bit of back-slapping came from a committee which hadn’t bothered to look at it.

Newcastle Stuff has ordered seven-hundred bottles of Shake N’ Vac from manufacturers Glade, to be delivered next Tuesday. Hopefully, that’ll put the freshness back before the Capital of Culture shortlist is announced this Autumn. The invoice has been made out to Newcastle City Council.

What the statue might - or might not - have looked like
A RIDICULOUS scheme to commission a ‘water feature’ which would have run down Grey Street and cost a million quid, has gone down the pan.
American artist Martha Schwartz came up with the idea of the two-inch deep trickle which would run down the side of the road, ending up in a stainless steel bowl by the Tyne. This has now been cancelled.
As Newcastle Stuff pointed out in a recent issue, there are many local "artists" who could have created the same effect.
Last Friday night, nearby Grainger Street was awash from every doorway; and all of it was self-financed.

SWAN HOUSE is being redeveloped as ‘luxury apartments’ – which will delight the tens of thousands who signed-on at the dole office there, for two decades.
The developers are trying to preserve the Royal Arcade, at the heart of the project which, in fact, is a feeble copy of the original splendid Victorian structure, demolished in 1967.
That was dismantled brick by brick, each one numbered in chalk for future reconstruction. Unfortunately the rain washed off the numbers, and it ended up as the foundations of the Byker Wall.
B:WHERE?
The Waygood Gallery
The basement 'nightclub'
Work in progress, Miles Thurlow
WITH ALL the fuss surrounding the opening of the Baltic, anyone would think the city was getting a new art gallery.

It’s easy to forget it’s in Gateshead – or ‘owerbackerbeyond’, as The Guardian reckons we in Newcastle refer to the town over the river, in a recent feature on the Baltic.

The truth is, Newcastle City Council’s commitment to art is, to say the least, dubious. Without Gateshead as a partner, our bid for Capital of Culture would be laughable.

Which is why it’s great news that an independent, contemporary gallery and studios in the heart of the city, is receiving a massive injection of cash.

The Waygood Gallery has announced unprecedented funding from a combination of the council, Northern Arts, One NorthEast and the Grainger Town Partnership, which will transform it into a centre of excellence.

The scale of the £5million project is enormous. The cash will enable the purchase of the Wards building, on High Bridge, which will eventually house an extended gallery, dozens of artists’ studios, a café bar and a nightclub.

The building was originally a printing works, designed to accommodate heavy machinery in high-ceilinged, naturally-lit space. And there is lots of space.

Artist/Director Helen Smith established the Waygood around six years ago, initially renting a floor in the building. The first phase will involve converting the two warehouse floors above into studios and exhibition space.

By 2006, the Waygood will be a fully integrated artists’ community, also providing office space for around 25 arts-related businesses, plus the café bar and club.

Gateshead’s Baltic will bring contemporary art from around the world, to Tyneside. But its opening shouldn’t be allowed to overshadow what is now happening in Newcastle, where the next generation of artists will soon find the space and support which has been absent for long in the city.