Tees Valley 2025 UK City of Culture Bid

Tees Valley declares its intent to bid to become 2025 UK City of Culture with a special announcement by a carefully selected Task and Finish Group.

The Task and Finish Group made up of representatives from Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU), CCAD, the university, the five Tees Valley local authorities and Arts Council England made the recommendation as part of a broader culture report.

The group spent the last year exploring how to enhance the Tees Valley’s cultural offer and ensure it better supports the area’s ambitious economic plans by supporting not only growth in the tourism and visitor economy, but in the creative industries, and how culture can be utilised to address issues around employment, education, health and wellbeing and social inclusion.

Patrick Chapman, CCAD’s Head of Employability who represents CCAD on the task and finish group said:

“This declaration of the Tees Valley’s aim to become City of Culture in 2025 is not just exciting but a statement of confidence in the region.  The Culture Group established by TVU, which CCAD was part of, has recognised the significance of the cultural and creative sectors to the Tees Valley – its economy where thousands of people work in the sector, and many more visit as tourists; its well-being where the arts and culture play a significant role in improving people’s lives and bringing people together; to the future through its positive impact on education, growth in employment in the sector and potential to attract more visitors to the area.

2025 gives a goal to work towards, a focus for work in these areas, building on the great assets we already have.  CCAD is very happy to play its part in this – we are already the best for art and design graduate employability in the UK  (and keeping more than 80% of them in the region) and we have a track record in attracting visitors through events such as the Festival of Illustration and working with the community through our clubs and short courses.

Add this to the track record of the other partners, the five Councils, Colleges and the University, and we know we can be the Capital of Culture.”

Margi Stewart-Piercy, Cultural Partnership and Strategy Coordinator who works across the five Tees Valley boroughs said:

“With Hartlepool’s Historic Quay to become the National Museum of the Royal Navy, nationally significant contemporary arts institutions such as mima in Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland’s vertical pier and funicular railway, internationally acclaimed festivals and events like Stockton International Riverside Festival and Darlington’s Festival of Thrift, and nationally distinctive theatre including Arc at Stockton and the emergence of the national centre of excellence for children’s theatre with Theatre Hullabaloo in Darlington – all set alongside the stunning land and sea scape with the River Tees at its heart – there is an abundance to see, do and enjoy right across the Tees Valley.”

With CCAD having campuses in two towns in the proposed bid (Middlesbrough and Hartlepool are both involved), we are delighted with the proposals and relish the opportunity to showcase what the region has to offer.

UK City of Culture is administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and is a term designated to a city in the UK for a 12 month period, for which a bidding process takes place.

Derry/Londonderry were designated the honour in 2013 and Hull are due to hold the title next in 2017.

Hartlepool Mail believes that Hartlepool’s profile could be raised massively thanks to the Tees Valley’s bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2025. ‘Hartlepool could benefit from City of Culture bid‘.

The Gazette have put together a listicle titled: Teesside City of Culture? Here’s 15 reasons why we should win the 2025 bid, Many of the mentioned artists starting their creative journey with us. David Coverdale, Maximo Park‘s Paul Smith, Richard Milward, Mackenzie Thorpe and Sir Ridley Scott are all mentioned, who are all CCAD alumni.

They have also provided a review of what a successful bid has meant for Hull ‘Teesside City of Culture bid: What has winning the title done for Hull?’

The Northern Echo have put together a list of 27 reasons Tees Valley should be named City of Culture 2025, which focuses on the places of cultural interest in the area rather than people – which reads also as a great visitors guide.

Sunderland is bidding for City of Culture status in 2021 – and a successful bid could deter judges from awarding the accolade to the North East successively.

But those behind the Tees Valley bid say it represents a “marvellous opportunity”.

TVU chairman Paul Booth said: “A successful UK City of Culture bid would create a long-term legacy which could generate massive social and economic benefits for many years to come.

“The bid will be developed in consultation with communities and organisations across the Tees Valley.

“Over the coming months and years we will be inviting everyone to join this exciting journey.

“We urge everyone to get involved in this marvellous opportunity to tell the world all about our contemporary strengths as well as our historic achievements.”

The final bidding process is not expected to take place until 2020.