Who we are 

Newcastle Contemporary Art (NCA) is a creative programme of exhibitions and events curated and managed by High Bridge CIC. Established in 2021, NCA is centred around a hub of studios for artists and creative businesses at High Bridge Works, NE1 1EW. Through the operation of this venue’s fourth floor gallery (formally Baltic 39) we aim to engage with members of our immediate and wider community through our programme. We advocate openness and inclusion with the aim of tackling inequalities in the region. We invite all to meet, share ideas and be inspired.

Why we exist

NCA exists to support artists and communities to develop their practice, showcase their work and form strategic alliances and networks for collaborative working. Our aim is to provide a platform that helps others develop work that is risky, difficult, pertinent and concerned with the creation of better worlds. We will journey with artists and communities with a spirit of generosity in the understanding that collaboration and solidarity is a difficult but fruitful path.

We are a cross-disciplinary team and our ethos is embodied by an attentiveness to different perspectives and ways of being. Our committed practice is guided by the notion of interdependent relationality and we strive to keep on asking questions, to share our learning, with our sights sharp and our feet light on the ground.

NCA recognises that ambition comes with risk and responsibility. We strive to shoulder this  responsibility allowing our artists and communities to co-create to their fullest potential without the burden of pragmatism. We value imagination and the creation of alternative worlds and as such we aim to instigate cross-sector collaboration, pivotal for enabling imagination to take root and become a reality.

NCA values co-learning and embeds it throughout our programmes. We put our networks at the service of our artists, communities, audiences and organisations, positioning ourselves as the broker of strategic partnerships in the making of fairer and more representative spaces. NCA positions unlearning as a crucial element in partnerships and negotiation of everyday life. Only when we begin to interrogate what we take for granted so we can start to imagine a better path.