Mighty mural signals exciting times ahead
Newcastle's buzzing backstreet
“I challenge anyone to walk by that and not feel inspired,” declares Deni Chambers.
The ‘that’ to which she alludes is the towering gable end mural just created in a corner of Newcastle which might be off the beaten track for many but is soon to be seen daily by thousands of students.
Some of these (mostly) young people will be making their way to and from Newcastle College a little further up the hill; others will in the area for their sessions at nearby LMA Newcastle, of which Deni, appointed in March, is the Newcastle principal.
This new creative university is LMA number three. The first opened in Liverpool 17 years ago (the initials stand for Liverpool Media Academy), London acquired the second seven years ago and Newcastle will throw open its doors in September.
Finishing touches are still being applied inside the brick building on St James’ Boulevard which was formerly PureGym, although the signage is already in place (Deni delightedly points out how the brand colours are echoed in the massive artwork nearby).
Here, next month, the very first student cohort – 75-strong, maybe a little larger since a few places are still available – will be arriving to embark on six degree courses which sound both physically and mentally taxing.
Deni reels them off: “Acting, dance, musical theatre, music performance, music production and events & festival management.
“We chose those six because they’re really relevant to what’s happening in this region.
“We’ve got quite a lot of events happening… we’ve got the Mercury Prize coming back (Utilita Arena Newcastle on October 22) and the Euros (five Euro 2028 football matches to be played at St James’ Park) and there’s the need for these skills.”
And that’s not all. Options from September 2027 will also include TV & film, games & VFX (visual effects), management for the creative industries and marketing & social media.
But back to that mighty artwork covering what was previously a gable end brick wall daubed with graffiti tagging.
“When we launched in Newcastle in March, we promised to really commit to the region and not just open a campus and that’d be it,” says Deni.
“Part of the way we can do that is by investing in our local area.
“This is sometimes a bit of a forgotten corner but you’ve got thousands of students walking past and some great businesses.
“This felt like the perfect canvas to really start to uplift this area. Someone described it to me yesterday as like parts of Berlin… creative, not too polished but really interesting.
“Working with Creative Central, who had a vision of what street art can do to an area, has been phenomenal.”
One of the regional creative zones funded by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, Creative Central NCL has also received funding from Newcastle City Council.
For the mural project, which has already had a transformative effect on Pink Lane and Forth Lane (and soon will do so, a little bird tells us, along Forth Street behind Newcastle Central Station), support has also come from the Government’s shared prosperity fund.
This latest Creative Central artwork, commissioned in partnership with LMA Newcastle, is a co-creation by two of the region’s best known street art practitioners, Jimmy Turrell and Peter Manning, aka Prefab77.
The Tuesday ‘unveiling’ came under a blue sky and with some of the paint still wet to the touch.
Jimmy, explaining that he works mainly as a creative director, frequently in the music industry, says the Creative Central commission seemed an opportunity to work on a bigger scale than he was used to.
He got in touch with Peter, knowing of his expertise in working with large stencils.
“We’ve known each other for probably 10 years, having pints together, and always said we’d do a collaboration but previously it never came to pass.”
Until now, of course, and the result is truly eye-catching.
Jimmy points out that the mural is actually two separate artworks, Peter’s seeming to have been fly posted on top of his and with hints of an apparent tear here and there.
“You sometimes see a door or a wall that’s got fly posters and stickers and tags and it’s resulted in this beautiful accidental collage with different layers,” says Peter.
Working off his database of photographs he identified strong female images – “punk goddesses or whatever you want to call them” – and used them as inspiration for the image seen here in giant profile.
He chose to work largely in black and white because “for me it stands out”. It certainly does alongside the colour deployed by Jimmy who recalls their collaboration as “almost like aesthetic ping pong” with ideas and suggestions going back and forth.
“Public art can completely change the way people see a space,” says Peter.
“This was a fairly anonymous wall before and now it has an identity. That’s the exciting thing about projects like this. They can make people stop, look and think differently about an area.”
Vix Leaney, project manager for Creative Central NCL, has experience enough now to know what works and what doesn’t.
“This mural is a brilliant example of what the wider Creative Central programme is all about,” she says.
“We want to create opportunities for artists and creatives to make their mark on Newcastle and to ensure that people working in the sector can find meaningful, paid opportunities here in the region.
“Having LMA arrive in this part of the city adds another important piece to that story.”
There is certainly an air of this being a ‘happening’ corner of the city, with the educational establishments and the other cultural attractions nearby, including the Discovery Museum, music venue The Lubber Fiend and the nothing-if-not-flamboyant Boulevard club.
And if Deni has her way, this is just the start.
Originally from Stevenage, she came to Newcastle to study and fell in love with the city. Having previously worked at both Newcastle College and Gateshead College, she came to LMA keen to engage with her real love, the creative industries.
Infectiously enthusiastic, she says LMA, as well as helping young people from the region to pursue their dreams and gain degrees, will also benefit others.
“It’s a great space and it’s going to be available for community use as well.
“We’ve been having conversations with the Tyne Theatre & Opera House, which has a youth group, and others who might want to come in and use the space.”
And it’s already creating work. In addition to a core academic team, some 70% of the staff will be industry professionals working at LMA on a freelance basis.
Among those signed up are Jazz Peters, the South Shields-born dancer who has worked with 50 Cent and will.i.am, Scottish musical theatre star Erin Caldwell (she was Jane Seymour in SIX) and North Shields music producer and singer-songwriter Chad Rodgers.
It’s certainly getting to be all bright and buzzing around Blandford Street.