OWTSIDE - MICRO GALLERY
OWTSIDE is No More Nowt’s public micro gallery installed outside on gable end of Community House, right in the middle of a working-class neighbourhood in Peterlee.
Consisting of two large exhibition boards 115cm x 115cm in size, the works we display here broadly reflect our mission and creative programme, getting more quality art to more people where they live.
Check out the artists who have exhibited so far.
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We have a rolling 3 monthly programme of submission and exhibition.
The deadline for Owtside 4 set January 2025.
The purpose of this public gallery is to showcase excellent and diverse artwork, and to increase local awareness of No More Nowt arts activity happening both on-site in Community House and across the County.
There’s no theme and no limit to the number of times an artist can apply.
Submissions can be new or existing work.
Successful artists will be awarded £100 and their work will be printed and installed onto the OWTSIDE boards for 3 months.
We would encourage visual artists working across different art forms to apply. Due to the location of where the work is to be presented in the heart of a residential community, we will not be able to accept explicit artwork.
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Each image should be .jpg files, 300dpi, without watermarks and titled with the name of artist in the order they are to be viewed (for example, FirstnameLastname01.jpg).
Please include the following as a PDF document, with images attached separately — not in a zipped folder.
Artwork title(s), name of artist, brief bio (maximum 100 words), contact details, website url/social media. Those with successful submissions may be contacted for high-resolution files. Artists will retain all copyright of their images.
Submissions / Queries: Just Email: ellen@nomorenowt.org
We’re really looking forward to hearing from you!
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Will my original artwork be installed outside?
No, we will accept photos of original artworks, or digital work. These will then be printed and installed on the boards.
Does my work have to be a square?
No, the artwork for the boards will be printed at are 115 x 115cm but we can accept square, landscape or portrait works. Works that aren’t square will be arrange by our designer and approved by the artist.
I’d not call myself an artist, but I like being creative. Can I apply?
YES!
What happens if my work gets damaged?
We will look to get the artwork reprinted and replaced if anything happens to it.
If I apply, then work is installed and I’m not chosen, do I have to reapply?
No, we will keep all applications on file and look at everything when we choose the next work to be installed. However, if you have new work you can send as many applications as you’d like to.
My work isn’t about place, space or the community. Should I apply?
Yes, we have no theme for this open call and will accept any creative work that can be replicated in print. Again, we cannot accept explicit work.
When should I apply?
This is a rolling open call, however the deadline for OWTSIDE Round 4 will be January 2025.
You can still submit work after this date but it will be considered for the 5rd round of selection in July 2025.
OWTSIDE #3: ABI CHARLESWORTH, ALISON DIAMOND, DAVID KENNEY & MPUMELELO BUTHELEZI
Artist: Abi Charlesworth
Title: ‘Exuviae’ (2024)
Info:
Abi Charlesworth (b.1997) is currently finishing her MFA at Glasgow School of Art and will be working towards her debut solo show at GLOAM, Sheffield in March, 2025. She has recently had work shown in Chaos Reigns, Warehouse at David Dale Gallery, HFBK x GSA, Hamburg and GSA x HFBK, The Glue Factory, Glasgow. She was also awarded a Gane Trust Grant Award in 2023 and a Gilbert Bayes funding award in 2024 to make new work and has been supported by GSA Student association in the development of Chaos Reigns and for an online postgrad critique series.
Artist website: www.abicharlesworth.co.uk
Artist instagram: @abi.charlesworth
Artist: Alison Diamond
Title of work: ‘Hold Tight’
Info:
Alison’s work explores printing techniques such as etching/aquatint, screen printing, linocut, wood engraving and monotype, with a practice reflecting experiences in the artists life, influenced by her background in the North of England. Alison’s work features the figure and individuals carrying out the everyday activities.
“I aim to imply that the individuals depicted, experience a genuine quality of life that may not, on first impressions be apparent” - Alison Diamond.
Employed as an Academic tutor at Sunderland University teaching printmaking for Illustration, Alison also works as a freelance artist/consultant within community settings, initiating projects.
Artist website: https://alisonturnbulldiam.wixsite.com/artist/gallery
Artist instagram: @alison._.diamond
Artist: David Kenney
Title of work: ‘Diverge 02 (From Coast and Rust)’
Info:
David Kenney is an Artist living and working in Stockton-on-Tees, having grown up in Murton, Co. Durham, and spent several years living in Peterlee.
His sculptural work explores similar themes to his paintings, with recurring motifs of basic architectural forms included throughout. David uses cast and mould to create precise, geometric forms in Jesmonite, using acid to remove surface layers to produce a concrete-like texture; often using coal, rusted iron and moss to create variation. In all of his visual work, David pays particular attention to texture, shadow and light to give the pieces a feeling of past use and interaction; surfaces worn by the passing of time and human intervention occupy seemingly timeless landscapes; liminal spaces devoid of human presence.
This hand-made sculpture is formed from Jesmonite and measures 9cm x 9 cm x 10cm. Small shards of coal and iron were added to the mix in places.
Artist website: https://davidkenney.art
Artist instagram: @davidkenneyart
Artist: Mpumelelo Buthelezi
Title of work: ‘Isolation’
Info:
Mpumelelo Buthelezi is a South African photographer who lives and works in Johannesburg. His practice explores the themes of social activism and religion as well as the ways that people sustain themselves. Mpumeleloʼs work finds itself at the intersection between documentation, storytelling and activism.
Through a series of self-portraits and portraits, Mpumelelo has produced a new body of work that takes inspiration from the isolation experienced during the national lockdown. In the initial stages he used his bedroom as a studio to make the self-portraits. In essence, this work is about what it means to be human. An existential question that most people grapple with, even more so during the isolation of quarantine implemented during the first national lockdown. Mpumelelo came face to face with the precariousness of (Black) life and in turn sought aid from what he perceived as an entity beyond the self.
Artist instagram: @icreateimageseveryday
OWTSIDE #2: SHEIDA SHEKARIAN & KOTRYNA ABROMAITYTĖ
Artist: Sheida Shekarian
Title: ‘$I.20 A POUND'. 2023.
Info:
Sheida is an illustrator with a passion for expressing the human experience through humour and narrative-based visuals, that evokes a feeling of nostalgia. Sheida is based just outside of Toronto but was born and raised in Iran. The unwavering humour of the Iranian people as a form of coping mechanism during hardships has influenced much of the character within their work.
Artist website: https://sheidashekarian.com
Artist instagram: @sheidashekarian
Artist: Kotryna Abromaitytė
Title of work: ‘This Is A Fairytale We Are Still Working On’. 2022.
Info:
With my work, I am trying to create a pause to reflect on the present moment and explore the many layers that make up different experiences of reality. My projects are dreamy, philosophical, and poetic, open to questions and interpretations.
The image featured in Owtside 2 comes from the ‘project of realities’, a typography and location-based art project that delves into the layers contributing to an understanding of reality.
"This project investigates how stories, ideas, and beliefs change the way we experience our individual realities” — Kotryna Abromaitytē
Artist website: https://kotryna-abromaityte.tumblr.com/
Artist instagram: @kotryna.abromaityte
OWTSIDE #1: BOBBY CHAINBRIDGE & MARGARITA FRANCESKA IEVA LOZE
Artist: Bobby Chainbridge (the official Club Publicist for each and every North East Social Club).
Title: Pollice Verso - A collection of North East Lads and Lasses. 2023.
Info:
Bobby catalogues the People, Places and Pints of the North East's greatest clubs; both past & present. His work captures the “alone, but together” conviviality that made and makes social clubs a staple of Northern life.
Artist website: https://wmcne.co.uk/about/
Artist instagram: @wmc.ne
Artist: Margarita Frančeska Ieva Loze (b. 1997, Latvia)
Title of work: Photography book. 2022.
Info:
Margarita is a recent graduate of MFA Fine Art from Kingston School of Art. She has been nominated for The Muse Residency 2024 and in 2022, she was selected for the Venice Biennale Fellowship programme.
Margarita's work is an exploration of the subtle beauty of life’s moments and a celebration of the poetics of the ordinary. Her recent work combines textile production with the use of found objects.
Through her experimental narrative approach, Margarita makes a dreamlike ontology, to capture the nuances of spatial, temporal and poetic navigation.
Artist website: website: www.margaritaieva.com
Artist instagram: @margarita.i.loze