A former student and teacher from The Northern School of Art is part of an ambitious new project that will celebrate the stories of migration to Middlesbrough, capturing people’s heritage in a series of large-scale oil paint portraits.

The portraits are being created by Helen Bainbridge (née Walker), an acclaimed artist who studied and then taught art and design at what was known then as CCAD (Cleveland College of Art & Design) in Green Lane, Middlesbrough.

Called Drawn to the Boro the project is a partnership with Arts Council-funded creative engagement programme Borderlands. It was launched on 4th August 2025 as a response to the one-year anniversary of the riots that took place in Middlesbrough and the organisers hope it will bring communities together through a shared history of migration.

Helen Bainbridge, who said she “had the best time” at CCAD, has a BA and an MA in Fine Art and returned to full-time painting two years ago after working in the design industry. Her focus is on portraits and personal narratives centred on transience. In 2024 her work was selected for open calls with prestigious national prizes and was longlisted for global art competition the Jackson’s Art Prize.

She said she is hoping Drawn to the Boro will reflect on all the different kinds of migration that makes Middlesbrough such a special town.

“My family and I are from Teesside and I know that we all share stories of migration. I’m so excited to be working with Borderlands this year because this project will help people to recognise that we have so much more in common than we realise.

“I want to capture not just what someone looks like but who they are and what they carry with them and how they ended up living here is such a big part of that.”

The portraits will be timeless and beautiful and reflect on both people’s uniqueness and the bonds that connect us, Helen added.

“I am drawn to honest moments in my painting – the quiet strength, the joy, the pain. In these portraits I want those qualities to come through, the whole process will be a chance to deeply consider who we are and why we are here.

“Through my work I often scrub back parts of my drawings or paintings to reveal what’s underneath, letting earlier marks appear. This excavation reveals history just as the sitter’s story unfolds in layers.”

Alongside Helen’s large portraits, an audio artist will also capture the sitter’s story, preserving memories and meaning as people settle in Middlesbrough and make it their home.

Borderlands Creative Producer Lou Scholes said: “This project will celebrate the rich and diverse communities that live here – putting their stories front and centre and highlighting the real people that make up Middlesbrough.

“I think it will be a bit like ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ on the BBC – it’ll be a chance for people to look back into their history. We all come from different places, particularly in a town like Middlesbrough that was built on migration for our heavy industry.”

The first surge in Middlesbrough’s population happened in the 1830s, following the birth of the town’s coal industry. The second began in the 1840s, when Middlesbrough’s iron ore industry took off.

Lou explained: “It’s so important for us that we launched Drawn to the Boro on August 4th. The riots deeply affected communities here, but we want to use this project to help people share unifying and hopeful stories. Middlesbrough has been a place of sanctuary, of safety and also of opportunity. We want to learn from communities here and can’t wait to read some of the nominations that come in.”

Nominations are being invited for local people with a story of migration to tell and are open until 6th October 2025.

Sitters will be required to attend a three-hour session with Helen, for initial sketches to be made and to share their stories for an audio recording. Helen will then complete oil paintings of each community member over the following months, with a final exhibition and celebration event taking place in August 2026.

The organisers stress that people must check with the person they wish to nominate before submitting their details. To make a nomination complete the form HERE