Thursday 19 July to Tuesday 28 August

Free entry: 10am to 5pm (August 9.30am to 5.30pm)

An exciting, innovative and engaging exhibition by Teesside University's art students, inspired by the wonderful scenery, landscape and folklore of the North York Moors and Tees Valley.

Teesside University's Fine Art students

A unique two-part exhibition celebrating the work of art departments at a leading Northern university.

Teesside University Inspired will feature the work of students in two departments at the Middlesbrough-based university – Fine Art, and Concept Art – inspired by the landscape and folklore of the North York Moors and Tees Valley, including stories of mythical serpents, magical witch hares and the gytrash, a legendary black dog said to haunt the Moors.

The exhibition, which is also part of the Great Exhibition of the North’s ‘Inspired by’ programme, is split into two parts, with students from the fine art department exhibiting from Thursday 19 July to Wednesday 8 August, and from the concept art department showing their work from Friday 10 August to Tuesday 28 August.

Lewis Robinson, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Teesside University, says: “A lot of the students who are taking part in the exhibition were already working with themes of landscape, nature and the environment, but with the knowledge that they have now of this particular environment they’re responding more directly.

“They’re using such a wide variety of different media – there are sculptors, painters, printmakers, photographer, film-makers – which characterises the nature of fine art. It’s going to be really interesting and exciting to see that mix in one space.”

Nigel Kitching, Senior Lecturer in Concept Art, explains: “Concept art is about taking an idea and visualising it – the first step on the design of something like the recent film Blade Runner 2049, for instance, would be an artist creating images for the set designers and builders to work from.

“The students showing at the Inspired by… gallery are all on what I believe is the only MA in concept art in the country, and certainly the longest-standing. We attract students from all over the world, including, recently, Bahrain, France, Croatia, China and Norway.”