A new partnership between two Teesside cultural institutions, Middlesbrough / Hartlepool’s Northern School of Art and ARC Stockton, will boost Tees Valley’s cultural and drama scene and strengthen the development of the area’s creative workforce.
As well as actively developing opportunities for cultural activity, the partnership will provide the professional training to support local acting students to stay in the region and forge links with the stage and screen industry after graduation.
It also aims to encourage acting students from beyond the region into the area to play a part in the cultural revival of the Tees Valley.
For the past eighteen months, students from the School’s Acting degree course have worked closely with ARC, taking part in workshops, industry talks and performance opportunities.
The Northern School of Art’s Programme Leader for Acting, Jonny Bussell, said that the formal partnership between the institutions will strengthen the collaboration further.
“Everyone at ARC has been so supportive and welcoming to our students, making them feel at home,” he explained, “and it has added so much to the degree level study to the students' professional understanding of the acting industry.
“The partnership with ARC continues to grow, with so many ideas for opportunities to work together. I'm looking forward to bringing future students to ARC to see our alumni's work.”
ARC’s Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Annabel Turpin, added, “we are really excited about formalising our partnership with The Northern School of Art and the future work and opportunities that we will be creating together.
“A core part of ARC’s work is to support local people to pursue creative careers. This is a wonderful chance to support and develop young artists to go on to create excellent work for our audiences to enjoy.”
The school’s Acting students are about to start work on a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which will take place in ARC’s main theatre in May.
The Acting degree course is one of a wide range of specialist creative courses offered by The Northern School of Art.
Open Days, where staff and students are on hand to give first-hand information about all of the degree and masters’ level courses available, are held at the School’s university-level campus in Hartlepool throughout the year.