Spotlight On... Newcastle University’s Make A Day Of It
We find out all about Newcastle University's new cultural campaign highlighting what it has to offer the people of Newcastle
Newcastle University is aiming to raise awareness of everything its campus has to offer through its Make A Day Of It campaign, hoping to shine a light on the many arts and cultural spaces that are available for everyone to enjoy.
We chatted to Rachel Pattinson, Strategic Cultural Partnerships Manager at the University, to find out more about the campaign and about what the university offers to enrich the cultural life of the public.
Newcastle University is a well-regarded, internationally significant seat of learning that is familiar to anyone in the city, occupying as it does a large and rather lovely campus at the top edge of the city centre. But what many locals don’t realise is that this Russell Group university has a great deal to offer non-students in Newcastle, particularly in cultural terms as Rachel points out.
“Newcastle University’s campus is one of the most diverse places to experience arts and culture in the city. There are inspiring special collections and archives, stimulating public lectures and live music, and many of the museums, galleries, and artworks on and around the campus are free to visit, and available for everyone to enjoy.”
Some of the galleries and venues on the campus might be more familiar to the public – Great North Museum: Hancock, the Hatton Gallery and Northern Stage all have fairly high profiles locally – but there are many other cultural landmarks to explore, and everything is clustered together near the city centre, so it’s easy to make a day of it.
“This is one of the reasons that we launched the campaign,” Rachel explains. “We’ve created three curated itinerary maps, available from the venues or downloadable online, offering suggestions for visits encompassing family activities, bite-sized visits if you are short on time, and culture to explore during days and lates.“
It's an ideal way to explore some of the University's newer venues or lesser-known cultural highlights that the public may not be aware of.
“We opened our newest cultural venue, the Farrell Centre, earlier this year, which has already attracted thousands of visitors to its exhibitions and activities, inspired by architecture and urban design," says Rachel. "The centre was made possible by the legacy of renowned architect Sir Terry Farrell, who studied at Newcastle University, and fulfils his aspiration that every city should have a place where people can come together to debate its future. As well as exploring changing temporary exhibitions, visitors can explore the past, present and future of architecture on Tyneside in the Urban Rooms. The centre also offers a wide range of inspiring talks and walks, as well as a programme of activities for families and young visitors.
“Our Art on Campus programme is also maybe less known.” Rachel continues. “Amongst artworks and sculptures commissioned for the University grounds, we have Clasp by Antony Gormley, best known for his iconic Angel of the North sculpture. All are outdoors and can be visited at any time by following the Art on Campus trail."
Newcastle University hosts a robust programme of events too, which Rachel hopes Make A Day Of It will help raise the profile of.
“Vistors can hear from leading scholars, scientists, literary and cultural figures in our series of early evening INSIGHTS Lectures, which are free and open to all. They are hugely popular so reserving your place in advance is advised. The public can also be inspired by our free Thursday-lunchtime concerts by professional musicians in the beautiful surroundings of the King’s Hall. Free performances by final year music students also take place on Thursday afternoons.”
The schedule of exhibitions and shows changes frequently, but Rachel highlighted a couple of current events that
“This year we celebrate 100 years of teaching fine art at Newcastle University, and part of those celebrations is the Matt Rugg: Connecting Form exhibition at the Hatton Gallery. It is the first major retrospective of the work of British abstract artist Matt Rugg (1935 – 2020), who taught at Newcastle University in the 50s and 60s. And we are also very proud to have Northern Stage on our campus, whose programme includes performances, plays, comedy and musicals. If you haven’t caught their Christmas shows, they are magical for both children, and grown-ups!”
As a Russell Group university, Newcastle is an international centre for research and this is certainly reflected in its creative arts programmes. Another facet of the Make A Day Of It campaign is to highlight the relationship between the university’s research and its impact on the city’s cultural life as a whole as Rachel explains.
"Our Newcastle University campus reflects and enhances the culture of our city and region and our research also feeds into what the public can experience. For example, the Audio Universe show at the Great North Museum: Hancock’s Planetarium originated from a research project into how to enable those who are visually impaired experience the Universe.“
“Exhibitions created at our Special Collections and Archives are drawn from the varied research into our libraries and rare book collections by students and academics," Rachel continues. “Anyone can visit the exhibitions at the Philip Robinson Library and you can also explore their exhibitions online, covering topics such as Martin Luther King at Newcastle University, and the North’s Forgotten Female Reformers.”
The ethos behind the University's cultural offer relates directly to how it perceives its relationship with the city as a whole too.
Our cultural collaborations stretch outside of our campus," Rachel says. "By collaborating with creative partners including the National Trust, the NewBridge Project and Opera North, we’re exploring interdisciplinary research challenges, creating opportunities for students to learn creative skills, and supporting the work of arts and cultural organisations.”
We’ve left the final word to Professor Vee Pollock, Dean of Culture and Creative Arts, who believes culture is vital to both the University and the city.
“We don’t just see culture and creative arts as ‘nice to have’ – they’re essential," she says. "Our initiatives develop mutually beneficial and sustainable partnerships with cultural organisations regionally, nationally and internationally contributing to vibrancy and cultural richness of Newcastle and the region, and to the nation's creative industries.”
From art to architecture, music to literature and history to science, Newcastle University's campus positively hums with energy and activity, and - as their campaign emphasises - a great deal of it is there for you to enjoy and experience. Find out more about Make A Day Of It and get planning a trip to the University to explore all it has to offer.
