How does an arts organization transition into a more active and equitable climate constituent? BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art as case study.
Lead Research Organisation:
Northumbria University
Department Name: Fac of Arts, Design and Social Sciences
Abstract
Rationale
With guidance from BALTIC Professor Andrea Phillips and Professor Alister Scott, as well as
BALTIC's own Katie Hickman on further potential directions for the project, this case study will build
on recent work on arts institutions in the North East (Donkin & Hudson, 2019) and their relation to
their local area and communities, and how this can be taken into account when considering an
approach for institutional change. Considering BALTIC's affirmation of and developing practical work
on its values of sustainability, for instance its partnership with the charity Julie's Bicycle to monitor
environmental impact, this case study positions it as a mission-driven arts organisation, operating as
it does from a regenerated industrial building and seeking to centre the needs of its local community
(Carnegie & Drencheva, 2019). BALTIC is based in Gateshead, one of the UK's most economically
deprived areas - a factor that is often a barrier to participation in the arts, a fact BALTIC
acknowledges and seeks to address in its "poverty proofing" (Children North East, 2020). With this in
mind, the case study would seek to focus in on how community engagement and cooperation can
lead to positive institutional and behavioural change with regards to ecological sustainability and
social justice. With BALTIC recognising its own "agency to act on sustainability and climate change"
(Julie's Bicycle 2020), to what extent can this agency be owned by people living in the surrounding
area, and if so, how?
With guidance from BALTIC Professor Andrea Phillips and Professor Alister Scott, as well as
BALTIC's own Katie Hickman on further potential directions for the project, this case study will build
on recent work on arts institutions in the North East (Donkin & Hudson, 2019) and their relation to
their local area and communities, and how this can be taken into account when considering an
approach for institutional change. Considering BALTIC's affirmation of and developing practical work
on its values of sustainability, for instance its partnership with the charity Julie's Bicycle to monitor
environmental impact, this case study positions it as a mission-driven arts organisation, operating as
it does from a regenerated industrial building and seeking to centre the needs of its local community
(Carnegie & Drencheva, 2019). BALTIC is based in Gateshead, one of the UK's most economically
deprived areas - a factor that is often a barrier to participation in the arts, a fact BALTIC
acknowledges and seeks to address in its "poverty proofing" (Children North East, 2020). With this in
mind, the case study would seek to focus in on how community engagement and cooperation can
lead to positive institutional and behavioural change with regards to ecological sustainability and
social justice. With BALTIC recognising its own "agency to act on sustainability and climate change"
(Julie's Bicycle 2020), to what extent can this agency be owned by people living in the surrounding
area, and if so, how?
People |
ORCID iD |
| Andrea Phillips (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Jacob Maiden (Student) |