Hartlepool artist set to take up new role at town gallery

Julie Cockburn, a Northumbria University Fine Art Masters graduate who lives and works in Hartlepool, will be spending the next 12 months working from a studio space in the gallery in Church Square.

Originally from Halesowen in the West Midlands, Julie has been involved in a variety of projects in recent years including Peterlee Arts Festival, the Kielder Village Art Project and the ShopGirls exhibition in Peterlee. She has exhibited widely in the North of England as well as in London and even as far as Cyprus.

Using bees and beehives as a metaphor for relationships past and present, she will be exploring the way people are – to a lesser or greater extent - interconnected and she will also be looking at the relationship between virtual and real time experience.

Using mixed media – including rigid ink, a plastic filament which cools almost instantly, enabling three dimensional sculptures to be drawn using a pen – Julie will be creating a series of works which will be featured in an exhibition in the gallery towards the end of the year under the title ‘Stories From The Hive.’

Julie’s appointment comes at a time when work is pressing ahead on a multi-million pound Hartlepool Borough Council project to revitalise Hartlepool’s Church Street area and transform it into a hub for creative industries.

Julie said: “I am thrilled and excited to be the first artist-in-residence at Hartlepool Art Gallery.

“It’s an exciting time of creative development in Hartlepool and it’s an inspiring opportunity to explore the town’s people, history, buildings and new technology.”

Councillor Kevin Cranney, chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Regeneration Services Committee, said: “We extend a very warm welcome to Julie.

“As work forges ahead to create Hartlepool’s new creative hub in the surrounding area, it’s very fitting that the gallery is becoming a little creative hub in its own right, with its very own Artist In Residence.”

Hartlepool Art Gallery is open Tuesdays to Saturdays (excluding bank holidays) from 10am to 5pm and entry is free.