Culture and
Creative Arts
We are interrogating the past and learning for the future, nurturing arts and culture to positively challenge and change our world.
Focus on creative practice
Arts and creative practice need to be positioned as opportunities for advancing knowledge and enriching experiences, through evidence-based research and pushing the boundaries of disciplines. They can be catalysts for public debate, and powerful storytellers, bringing positive impact to people and places regionally, nationally and globally.
We need to focus on understanding and maintaining our global culture. Challenging history and learning from our past can help us in developing and enriching our future.
There is huge potential in the arts for creating space for possibility, risk, and experimentation.
We are challenging historical perspectives and enriching the future through arts and culture.
Our culture and creative arts researchers, as well as producing work that pushes the boundaries of their disciplines and practices, create work that addresses some of the major challenges facing society from social justice to climate change. This shows how vital culture and creative arts are to understanding and contributing to the world around us.
Professor Vee Pollock
Dean of Culture and Creative Arts
Newcastle University is a centre for culture and creative research. Our award winning writers, artists, cultural, and heritage professionals are creating research that pushes boundaries. They tackle profound global and societal challenges from climate change, to issues of identity.
We are influencing the conditions through which our culture and creative sectors can thrive. We focus on evidence-based research, informing policy from the hyper-local to the global. We believe there is huge potential in the arts for creating space for possibility, risk and experimentation. Our venues are key spaces where this happens. Through our work with partners we are ensuring that our research positively benefits people and places across the globe.
We have a strong history of innovative interdisciplinary working across sectors. Much of our work is co-produced with partners. Our influence is regional, national, and international.
We are the home of the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts. Through this, we contribute to the cultural life of the North East via research, teaching, engagement projects and more. We present and support the best contemporary writers through our NCLA events. We discuss outstanding fiction and non-fiction, script and poetry as well as innovative forms of writing. We curate and share a rich range of archival resources with audiences in Newcastle and beyond.
We are the lead partner of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC). This collaborative research initiative gives evidence-based policy insights and analysis which support the creative industries. We co-host the Creative PEC with the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) through our innovative twin-hub model. We’re using our combined expertise and shared vision to bring huge benefits to the UK creative sector.
We’re helping capitalise on the strengths of the creative economy in our region, by adding to the evidence base, addressing sector workforce needs, and fostering engagement through our cultural venues.
Empowering research and practice
Our Newcastle upon Tyne campus and the North East of England provide great opportunities for culture and creative arts research and practice.
From World Heritage Site, Hadrian’s Wall, to captivating Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the region serves as a rich source of inspiration and study. We partner with prominent urban and rural arts venues, as well as arts and heritage organisations. An extensive international network of writers and poets, including participation in the Newcastle Poetry Festival, further enhances our creative community.
Our Newcastle city-centre campus provides galleries, museums, and award-winning collections and archives that benefit staff, students, partners, and the public. Our LIVE in King’s Hall Concerts and INSIGHTS Public Lectures are free and open to everyone. One of our regional partners, Northern Stage, is also based on our campus.
Our facilities include research institutes and centres dedicated to heritage and arts practice. They are complemented by world-leading workspaces and on-site studios. This integrated approach creates an ideal setting for innovative and impactful creative practice.
Cultural venues
Our cultural venues support the cultural richness of Newcastle upon Tyne. They are interdisciplinary research hubs and bridge the gap between our innovative work and the public.
The Great North Museum: Hancock is our museum of natural history, archaeology, geology, and world cultures with university research at its heart.
The Hatton Gallery stages a programme of modern and contemporary art exhibitions and events. It is also a living lab for teaching, research, and contemporary programming. The Gallery is complemented by art across our Newcastle campus.
The Farrell Centre is our newest cultural venue. Its exhibitions, talks, tours and activities for all ages are inspired by architecture and urban design.
Our Special Collections and Archives curate and showcase a distinctive collection of books and archives for university staff, students, researchers and the wider community.
Research centres
Our research centres and institutes are key enablers of our culture and creative arts research, including:
- Centre for Heritage
- Institute for Creative Arts Practice
- Humanities Research Institute
- Centre for Data
- Centre for Researching Cities
We also work with our three National Innovation Centres: Ageing, Data and Rural Enterprise.
Education for life
Our culture and creative arts programmes provide an excellent education experience. We prepare the next generation of creative practitioners for diverse careers in our cultural and creative economy.
Students are able to contribute to a wide range of professions and society through education grounded in disciplines. Our collaboration and work with partners provides distinctive educational experiences.
Students develop skills through:
- placements
- community projects
- residencies
- Live Build experiences
- exhibitions
Examples include:
- our Fine Art students do Life Work Art, an award-winning professional development scheme
- our Architecture students work with communities and stakeholders to implement Live Build projects. They develop practical skills and experience of different modes of design practice
- our Music and Museum Studies students have the opportunity to engage with a range of partners relevant to their interests
View our collection of innovative teaching case studies in:
Everyone should have the opportunity to experience creativity and embark on creative careers. We collaborate with schools and partners through initiatives such as music hubs. We also support graduates and emerging creative and cultural professionals through initiatives such as the NewBridge Project.
Meet some of our researchers and innovators
- TS Eliot and Forward prize winning poets: Professor Jacob Polley, Emeritus Professor Sean O’Brien, Professor Sinead Morrisey and Dr Tara Bergin
- Gordon Burn Prize Winner 2022 Professor Preti Taneja
- University Chancellor Imtiaz Dharker
- artists Professor Jane Wilson, Professor Louise Wilson, Professor Andrew Burton, Professor Catrin Huber, Professor Wolfgang Weileder, Professor Richard Talbot and Rachel McLean
- folk and traditional musicians: Catriona Macdonald and Kathryn Tickell OBE
- Professor Vee Pollock, Dean of Culture and Creative Arts
- Professor Christopher Whitehead, Dean of Global – Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor of Museology
- Dr Fiona Whitehurst, Associate Dean of Engagement and Place, Newcastle University Business School
- Centre for Heritage Directors: Professor John Pendlebury, Dr Joanne Sayner and Dr Loes Veldpaus
- Professor Hasan Bakshi, Director, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre
- Professor Giorgio Fazio, Research Director, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre
Who we work with
- international academic partners including Chicago Institute for the Arts, Yale School of Arts, University of Victoria, Pittsburgh University, British International Research Institutes (BIRI), and University of Bergen
- international partners including The Lannan Foundation and we have realised major Fine Art commissions in World Heritage Sites including Pompeii and Herculaneum
- international networks of heritage researchers and partners including CoHere
- specialist agencies including UNESCO.
- national arts and heritage organisations including the National Trust, National Gallery, Arts Council England, and English Heritage
- policy influencing bodies including the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre
- regional partners including Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, Northern Stage, Opera North, National Trust, NewBridge Project, and The Glasshouse International Centre for Music
- regional strategic bodies including the North East Culture Partnership
- other Russell Group Universities by convening the Russell Group Culture Network
