L-INK 2022/2023

L-INK group members, photo by Colin Davison

Are you 16-24 years old? Are you interested in art, working with artists, curators, collections and communities?  Do you like working as a team and meeting new people? Then, L-INK are looking for YOU!  

L-INK are a group of young people who work with the Laing Art Gallery to collaborate, co-curate, produce events, work with artists, and create artworks. In the past L-INK have had the opportunity to create and display their own artworks in the gallery, curate exhibitions from the Laing’s collection and work together in collaborative practice.  

The group also get the opportunity to visit other galleries together such as BALTIC, The Workplace Foundation, Tate Modern and The National Portrait Gallery, from there they can build arts connections within the North East and beyond.

This year, L-INK will be developing their collaborative practice to curate a new display for the Laing, with a focus on engaging young communities with the artworks on display 

The group will get the chance to get behind the scenes at the Gallery. They will meet gallery staff, work practically and creatively with artists and make connections with other young people’s groups.  The next L-INK project will run October 2022 to July 2023. 

There is an opportunity to complete a Gold Arts Award alongside L-INK. The Gold Arts Award is Level 3 qualification, worth 16 UCAS points. It requires 90 hours of guided learning and 60 hours of independent work, coming to a total of 150 hours. The guided learning will be provided by the Laing as well as support for the independent learning.  

Gold Arts Award explores extending personal artistic practice, reviewing arts events/exhibits, planning and organising arts events/workshops, making a case for an arts issue then communicating that, and self-review of personal skills in leadership of organised events.  

This will be completed with guidance from an experienced team of Arts Award advisors at the Laing. For further details contact learning@laingartgallery.org.uk or register your interest on the signup form.  

L-INK is a fixed-term project and we ask for a time commitment of approximately one day per month plus one potential overnight trip to visit other galleries during the Summer. We understand that participants have many extra-curricular commitments and responsibilities as well as school work, so if participants find that they are unable to commit to the project, please let us know so that we can offer places to others.  

L-INK sessions usually run from 10.30am – 4pm with a break for lunch. Where necessary, some sessions may be shorter and/or could take place via video call (advance notice will be given.)

To apply: please send your completed application form to learning@laingartgallery.org.uk 

Deadline for applications: Friday 4 November 2022

Got questions? We’d love to hear from you! 

Email learning@laingartgallery.org.uk 

The 2022 L-INK project offered the opportunity for the group to go behind-the-scenes at the Laing Art Gallery, learning how artworks are conserved, handled and displayed.

In autumn 2022, the Laing Art Gallery will welcome the Lindisfarne Gospels back to the North East. The exhibition will look at the ways in which the Gospel book can bring people together today by inspiring thinking about who we are and where we come from, about identity, creativity, learning and sense of place. The Gospels has also be the inspiration for a new display at the Laing Art Gallery, specially curated by L-INK, which opened to the public in summer 2022.

The L-INK 2022 project focuses on the idea of spirituality, and what that means to us today. The project invites investigation into the ways in which we infer spiritual or ceremonial meanings upon objects, spaces and architecture.

Installation photo: The Untold Stories and the Tides of Change to Come. Photo credit Colin Davison

The group worked with artist Ruth Ewan and Laing Art Gallery staff to expand the theme through active discussion and creative practice, considering both common and uncommon words, messages, actions and rituals that are woven into our daily life.

Following this phase of refection and research, the group curated their own display, The Untold Stories and the Tides of Change to Come, using works from the Laing’s Collection, offering a new perspective upon the messages from Lindisfarne Gospels that are relevant to us today. 

The project posed questions such as: Why do we consider some objects ‘sacred’? How do our personal sacred objects contribute to our sense of self or self-worth? How does it feel to display a sacred object? Are there different ways to display artworks so that they tell different stories? What is the role of an artist or a curator? The project also explored exhibitions at other galleries through research trips to museums and galleries outside the area.

Installation photo: The Untold Stories and the Tides of Change to Come. Photo credit Colin Davison