Member Article

North East artist wins £2k commission for Newcastle Building Society

North East artist Alison Ashton has won a £2k commission to create a unique hanging artwork that will be displayed in the atrium of one of the region’s best-known businesses. Newcastle Building Society invited local artists to pitch for the design of a new hanging art installation that will form the centrepiece of the atrium at its Cobalt Business Park offices in North Tyneside, where 300 Society employees are based. After presenting the display space and brief to around 20 professional and amateur artists in October, the building society drew up a shortlist of four finalists, who were then invited to present their ideas to a judging panel which included staff who work in the building. Alison’s ideas for creating a large dream-catcher-style installation using ribbons and strips of material, sitting alongside five hanging sails of pastel-coloured fabric, which represent the Society’s core staff values, was unanimously chosen as the winner. A team of Society volunteers has been working with Alison on the commission, which is entitled ‘Colour Fall’ and is due to be installed in March, using giant knitting needles to create woven strips from plastic fabrics that will form the hanging sails. Newcastle-based Alison is a freelance theatre designer and arts practitioner with extensive experience of installations based on commissions, including the well-known fantasy-themed Storytelling Chair at Seven Stories in the city, and regularly carries out arts workshops in schools, universities, galleries and community centres, as well as artist-in-residency projects. Alison said: “I was attracted to this project because of the strong regional links, a number of my projects are sited around the country so to be able to work on something that’s virtually on my own doorstep was a great opportunity. “Seeing the atrium space for the first time back in October really inspired me with a number of ideas and I couldn’t wait to start planning. It’s such a big and impressive space I wanted to create something that would be eye-catching but would also have meaning. “I think ‘Colour Fall’ will be perfectly suited to Newcastle Building Society and being able to involve staff in the creation of the project will make the results even more special.” Newcastle Building Society has long been a committed supporter of the North East’s creative communities, having hosted community art exhibitions at a number of its branches, instigated an art competition for locally-based students and commissioned work from several professional regional artists. It has also run successful, award-winning joint initiatives with cultural organisations including Seven Stories and Northern Stage.

Natalie Falkous, head of corporate social responsibility at the Newcastle, adds: “We were really pleased with the response we had, and the ideas we received demonstrated an amazing degree of creativity and artistic talent , and when we came to the judging day, Alison’s entry was the clear winner. “The new artwork will be one of the first things that employees and visitors to our Cobalt office see, and has been designed to symbolise the hopes and dreams that we help fulfil through the provision of mortgages and other products. “Supporting artists and creative projects across our heartland area is just one of the ways that we translate the principles of our mutual status into direct benefits for the communities in which we work. “We’re excited to see how Alison’s design translates from the page into the wonderful display space we have at our Cobalt office.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .