north east open call.

The North East Open Call is the flagship exhibition of regional artists within the Middlesbrough Art Week festival programme. This year, 8 artists were selected to present work from across the region that responds to the festival themes. Work is selected by a panel of industry professionals as well as invited curator Penelope Payne.

Heena.Asikainen.Wing.Cradle.North.East.Open.Call.Photo.Credit.Sally.Jubbjpeg.jpeg
eileenwhite_NEO_transmutation. 1JPG.JPG
Wing Cradle reigns.jpeg
Thetis in BlackV2.jpg
This place is a message, film still, Webb-Ellis 2022 (3).jpg
Joshua Le Gallienne - Action Without Action (01).JPG
eileenwhite_NEO_propagation.JPG
Patsy 1 2023 H62cm x W25cmx25cm.jpg
Matthew Young_[1].jpg

Participating artists include: Chris Thompson, Henna Asikainen, Eileen White, Webb-Ellis, Joshua Le Gallienne, Matthew Young, Christine Walker, Mark Bletcher. We are delighted to be partnering with Dodds Brown on delivering this exciting exhibition in the centre of Middlesbrough.

Together with the exhibition at MAW, The North East Open Call gives financial and curatorial support and networking opportunities to the participating artists. If you are interested in how we work with and support artists scroll to the bottom of the page for more information.

This years North east open call artists:

The North East Open Call (NEOC) is an opportunity for artists based in the North East or have a connection to it, to submit work for Middlesbrough Art Week for exhibition in a group show. in 2024 we received 200 applications for the open call and we are proud to offer all applicants a short few lines of feedback. The application is in 2 parts, In the first instance artists are asked to submit an image or a link to their work with a short text. Round 2 artists are paid a modest fee to write a full application.

The selection panel for NEOC included:

Penelope Payne: Curator and artist.
Katy Morrison: Curator, researcher and director of Pink Manchester.
Garth Gratrix: Artist, curator and founding director of Abingdon Studios Ltd.
Helen Welford: Exhibitions and collections curator for MIMA.
Niomi Fairweather: Curator Team Leader for the Baltic.
Rose McMurray: Assistant curator the BALTIC.
Liberty Hodes: Artist and NEOC alumni.

The 2024 support package to artists includes:

  • Raised profile through exhibition/events and a dedicated website.

  • Professional Development: Virtual/in person studio visit with Penny Payne NEOC Curator.

  • Networking opportunities with other artists, arts professionals, curators and exhibition venues.

  • Artist fee of £500. 

  • Technical support from Middlesbrough Art Week throughout the project

In a quote from Chris Thompson “It’s a pleasure to be taking part in this year’s MAW. I’m a big believer in artist and practitioner led approaches to organisation and exhibition-making; It also provides me an opportunity to bring my work home, the place that heavily shapes it.

I was particularly drawn to this year’s theme of artists relationship to political action.

A tension I grapple with a lot in exhibitions is the desire to both have something meaningful to contribute whilst wondering what role I occupy as a producer of content for circulation- a tension more or less mirroring my own place in the world as a person existing, breathing, consuming and producing for survival.”