The Biscuit Factory
Located in the heart of Shieldfield, nestled amongst student accomodation on Stoddart Street. The Biscuit Factory is a free to visit contemporary art gallery. It spotlights North East artists who work in a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, jewellery, and photography; the former Victorian warehouse is able to showcase over 250 artists’ work at any time. The large collection and exhibitions are set across the building’s beautiful two floors with a central staircase, exposed brick, and wooden beams. The shop and café are firm favourites, whether you’re looking for bespoke gifts or to go out for brunch.
The Biscuit Factory Foundation funds, uplifts, and nurtures local art and artists, encouraging and enabling community engagement with emerging musicians and artists through sponsorship, studio space, education, and commissioning public art. The gallery's ethos of upholding the North East’s cultural value is reflected in all the work they do.
The gallery's ethos of upholding the North East’s cultural value is reflected in all the work they do.
NewBridge Books and The NewBridge Project
NewBridge Books is located on on Clarence Street. Focusing primarily on written work, it is a hub for independent writers’ work and work printed by radical publishers. They stock zines and magazines as well as books, and are keen to encourage conversation about politics, sustainability, and art. They are open to artists and writers who wish to sell their work there, and actively encourage people (especially self-published writers) to get in touch on their website if they would like their work stocked there.
The NewBridge Project is an artist-led, community-oriented programme that offers various ways to get involved in the arts for local people. Whether they want a career in the arts, to find a community, or for a therapeutic atmosphere. A combination of collaborations with other local organisations, social events, and accessibility schemes enables the NewBridge Project to offer a vast range of support. They have affordable studio space programmes, run a 'Memory Café' aimed at adults with dementia, commission artists for exhibitions, and offer community-led activities such as book clubs and walks. They fundraise for other causes and also produce online resources to preserve and share art digitally.
Star and Shadow Cinema
The Star and Shadow Cinema is located on the edge of Shieldfield, on Warwick Street, and is in close proximity to the iconic Flea Circus, a curated shop selling vintage furniture and local artists’ prints and decorative pieces. Star and Shadow is so much more than just a cinema - it is a vital community hub. It is run and managed by volunteers and members, and their spaces are available for use by anyone prepared to volunteer their time to help the venue. They have an 80 seater cinema, a music venue that has a 200 people capacity, a café, a library, a dark room and a print room, an online radio station, and so much more. Often showing older cult classic films, you can also be sure to see live performances, music, art exhibitions, and take part in workshops. Star and Shadow is dedicated to preserving and uplifting local grassroots art and culture, hoping to open conversations about politics, DIY, LGBTQ+ identities, and direct community action.
Star and Shadow is so much more than just a cinema - it is a vital community hub.
Cobalt Studios
Located on Boyd Street, at the very edge of Shieldfield and Ouseburn, Cobalt Studios host almost any event you could possibly want to attend. The non-profit’s mission is to offer a space for accessible, non-elitist art, music, and culture which empowers and transforms the local community. They hope to attract “embryonic, fresh, original, curious, left of centre, odd, creative curiosity, story tellers, wanderers, risk takers and brave spirits”.
From the drinks they stock to their studio spaces, their creative educational sessions to their club nights, Cobalt are dedicated to Newcastle’s people, culture, art, and voice. Cobalt’s values of hospitality, expression, transparency, and connections are at the core of everything Cobalt do.