Gateshead Studio Exchange

Gateshead Studio Exchange is a developing creative programme based within Orbis Community’s West Street spaces, bringing together Gateshead College students, lecturers, artists, makers and creative practitioners from different disciplines. It has grown naturally from the way the space is already being used each week, with students from photography, fashion, digital arts, art and design working alongside artists based in the building, sharing ideas, references and approaches. A big part of that development comes from Gateshead College lecturers and Orbis Community working closely together, sharing ideas and responding to what is happening in the space.

That collaboration is already generating new possibilities and helping turn small conversations into projects with real potential. The result is a genuine working environment where students can build confidence, develop technical and creative skills, and gain the kind of real-world experience that supports Gateshead College’s aim to develop skilled, confident learners who can succeed in work and life.

Alongside the studios is a growing reference library of illustration, comics, pop-up books, film stills, diaries, design books and unusual printed material spanning more than a century. These resources are already becoming starting points for conversations and new work, and Gateshead Studio Exchange will build on that through clubs, workshops and creative evenings, including an Illustration Club combining practical making with animation, moving image and visual culture.

Students will be at the forefront of shaping and hosting these activities, learning how to take an idea from concept to delivery through planning, organisation, facilities, risk assessment and public engagement. It is that mix of students, lecturers, artists and Orbis Community working together that gives the programme its energy and allows ideas to evolve quickly into something practical, creative and genuinely shared..