The Art Works Galleries closes down

Sep 25 2009 by Barbara Hodgson, The Journal

A FLAGSHIP art gallery which became the largest in Newcastle when it opened three years ago has announced its closure.

The Art Works Galleries in Stepney Bank, Ouseburn, has already shut up shop while a brief announcement on the company website reads: “It is with much regret that we have to inform you The Art Works Galleries is closing. We sincerely thank you all for your support.”

Opened just over three years ago by artist Matt Forster, the former Tyne Tees TV warehouse was transformed into a slick gallery exhibiting and selling original contemporary art.

Bigger than a football pitch, it had five galleries under one roof and its flexibility in offering commission-free wall space for hire to anybody who wanted it proved popular for end-of-year student shows. It was billed as the North’s largest independent artist-led art gallery and employed three full-time and three part-time staff.

Some artists effectively ran their business from the premises by buying regular wall space. It also housed a shop and has hosted weddings, fashion shows and birthday parties.

Photographer Alan Goodyear, from Whitley Bay, who exhibited some prints on canvas there this summer, says he has been waiting weeks for a payment owed by the gallery.