History of the group:

NewcastleGRAFT was established in 2003 by artist Cathryn Jiggens as a 'creative community network' for the Northeast. Between 2003 and 2007 she actively developed the network including the fundraising and organization for:

- A weekend networking event with artists from Newcastle, London and the SW on the theme of Complexity Theory

- A weekend networking visit hosted and supported by Allenheads Contemporary Arts, Northumberland

- Visiting artist speakers and events including Maf'J Alvarez, Irene Brown, Hetain Patel and Peter J Evans

- An international Women's Day event, applications workshop and peer review sessions for work in progress.

For a full description of the group's early development phase, follow the link below to 'Us and Them' - an essay by Cathryn published in STATIC Pamphlet in 2004

http://www.static-ops.org/archive_october/essay_9.htm

Current Group Information:

Administration, management and development of newcastleGRAFT is now undertaken by Pete Hindle.

In 2006 Pete organized a newcastleGRAFT birthday BBQ; in 2007 he organized a group visit to the Transmediale festival in Berlin, supported by Arts Council England NE. He is currently developing a web design course and new website for newcastleGRAFT.

Members use newcastleGRAFT to share information about exhibitions, opportunities, ask questions and any thing else that crops up, and are invited to make creative use of the many possibilities opened up by the resource.

For further information contact:

Cathryn Jiggens, newcastleGRAFT Founder (cathryn.jiggens@gmail.com)
Pete Hindle, newcastleGRAFT administration, management and development