We interviewed James Beighton and Aphra O’Connor from Tees Valley Arts, learn about their organisation, and their experience in the Palace Hub below!
Can you tell me about your organisation?
Tees Valley Arts is a charity working to support people in living creatively, we believe creativity makes a real difference to people’s lives. We run a number of projects in the area, one of these being the Redcar Palace, which is the gallery space we run on the ground floor of the Palace Hub, where we host things like our Honesty Shop, where we have around 60 people selling their creative products, anyone who makes anything locally can sell through our shop. We also run the Blooming Youth Collective programme, aimed at 16-24 year olds, inspiring the young creative minds of Redcar and Cleveland!
What brought you to the Palace Hub?
When the Palace Hub first opened, there was a brilliant gallery space on the bottom floor called Palace Arts, when the owners of the gallery retired, Tees Valley Arts occupied the space in 2019. We saw an opportunity to provide support for local artists in the area, to bring investment into the creative sector in Redcar and Cleveland, and The Palace Hub seemed perfect for us, especially with the idea of public facing, with our gallery being in the front window!
What do you enjoy most about working here at the Palace Hub?
There’s just so many fantastic businesses in here, so many friendly people, it’s a strong community and it’s great to be a part of that, it feels like all the people here are very focused on making Redcar a better place. Redcar is really leading the way in creative arts, I just think the culture and the communities that have been built in this building is amazing.
What do you love most about Redcar and Cleveland?
It feels like a home away from home, as I mentioned before, Redcar and Cleveland is doing more for the arts in the area than anywhere else has, it’s really taking some time to invest in itself and think about what is good for the community, it feels like it is always trying to better itself. Being in the Palace Hub, we have a beautiful outlook onto the sea, you go outside and think, ‘great, I’m on holiday’. There’s so many different towns in the borough with their own strong identities!
Be sure to check them out below:
Website: Tees Valley Arts
YouTube: Tees Valley Arts
Facebook: Tees Valley Arts
Instagram Tees Valley Arts
Please also be sure to check out their ‘Redcar Palace’ platforms:
Website: The Redcar Palace
Facebook: The Redcar Palace
Instagram: The Redcar Palace