A spectacular video wall installation at The Northern School of Art’s Middlesbrough campus is creating a major talking point.

The huge display, which celebrates the School’s recent third successive Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ grade achievement and was created in a collaboration between the School and Teesside-based production company Artistic Solutions, is of a scale and format it is believed has never been done before in Middlesbrough.

Covering almost the entire south elevation of the Middlesbrough campus building, facing directly onto Newport Road, the display features 201 individual video screens, over 13 million pixels, uses almost 3 km of cable and 24,000 watts of power and took over 30 hours to install.

A light-hearted introductory sequence for the display was devised, performed and filmed by acting and film and TV students studying for specialist diplomas at the campus.

The opening imagery in the display references the School’s 150-year creative presence in Middlesbrough, with the narrator telling viewers: “For over a century-and-a-half creativity has lived here. A School built on vision, on passion, on the power of art. From the industrial age to the digital revolution – we have shaped the future of the creative industries.

“Generations of artists, designers, filmmakers, and innovators, all starting their journey here. From the roots of Teesside College of Art to Cleveland College of Art and Design, now to The Northern School of Art, our legacy is built in paint, in pixels, in performance.”

The display moves on to footage of current students working on the wide range of creative courses offered by the School with the voiceover stressing that there is “innovation in every brushstroke, passion in every pixel and vision in every frame. This is where ideas take shape, where imagination runs free.

“Every day, every studio, every student – a masterpiece in the making. We don’t follow trends, we set them. Because we are not just students. We are storytellers, designers, game-changers.

“The North’s creative heartbeat. Loud, bold, fearless. We create, we innovate, we make history. Outstanding again, and always.”

The display was unveiled for staff and students on Wednesday 19 March 2025. In his introductory remarks The Northern School of Art Principal, Dr Martin Raby, said: “We wanted to make a big fuss about our Ofsted Outstanding rating achievement and say a big thank you to staff and students for all their hard work.

“The School has a proud history of delivering creative education in the area and the film gives an insight into what we deliver today. Ofsted noted that the School is like one big creative family and that is what we wanted to show.”

Dan Brobble, Creative Director of Artistic Solutions, pictured below left with the team that installed the video wall, who studied at The Northern School of Art’s Hartlepool campus from 1996-1998, said: “As an ex-student this has been a fantastic project to be involved with and our team includes some talented young students from the School too.

“It’s been a unique experience for us, projecting the visual out of the building as opposed to onto it. We’re delighted with it.”

The video showreel is now running on a loop day and night until midnight on Saturday 22nd March. The audio for the School’s celebratory film will play at 9am, 12.30pm, 4.30pm, 7pm, 8pm and 9pm. To see the display head to Newport Road, Middlesbrough TS1 1LA.

Further details of the range of creative courses at The Northern School’s Middlesbrough FE campus – including A-Levels, T-Levels, Diplomas, Foundation, Access to HE and Saturday morning art and creativity clubs – are HERE