Introduction
Helix Arts is undertaking the immense task of auditing its archive, which spans over 40 years of material. Helix Arts was formerly named Artists’ Agency. This work has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Every week, a team of dedicated volunteers contributes to this effort. We intend to use this page to showcase our discoveries until the project’s expected completion in late 2026.
In this blog, we jump into one of the earliest projects by the Artists Agency, Art at Work. This project, which ran from January to June 1984, featured the work of ten talented artists. It culminated in both artist residencies and a series of exhibitions across the Country.
Art at Work shows the results of eight placements, which lasted between three and six months, and two residencies of a year’s duration. All placements are run by the Artists’ Agency, an organisation specifically set up to find and arrange placements for artists.
Today, our focus is on the artist known then as Stephen Rowe, later Lizzie Rowe, and their involvement in the Tyne Tees Television Residency as part of this ground-breaking project.
In the coming year, we plan to showcase the work of the other nine artist residencies, comparing their past projects with contemporary ones and highlighting how our forty year archive continues to inform artist projects today.
Art at Work: Pioneering Artist Residencies
Whilst at Helix Arts, Founder Lucy Milton became recognised as forerunners in community art. She introduced the idea of connecting high quality artists with diverse and disadvantaged communities to make great art together in northern towns as a way of amplifying the voices of those who were seldom heard.
The Art at Work project, organised by the Artists’ Agency (now Helix Arts) in collaboration with the Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University, Arts Council England, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council, and supported by Tyne Tees Television, ran from January to June 1984. This initiative showcased the work of ten talented artists through residencies and a series of exhibitions.
Artists’ Agency managed the negotiation and administration of the scheme, which involved sourcing companies, advertising for artists, and selecting candidates.
At the time of the project, the organisation was headed by Lucy Milton and Alan Mitchell. Their office, established in April 1983 above the Sunderland Arts Centre, aimed to bridge the gap between artists and local industrial and commercial companies.
The organisation negotiated 3 to 6-month residencies for artists with a unique funding model: if the companies could pay 50% of the artist’s fee, the agency would match that sum with funds from Northern Arts, the Arts Council of Great Britain, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
This rigorous approach continued with various Helix Arts’ leaders to what is now known as co-production that has always been at the heart of everything that we do and will continue to drive our future programme with game-changing.
North of England artists like Rowe were invited to produce their own paintings, drawings, sculptures or photographs in other people’s places or work, residence and leisure.
During the placement Rowe was aligned with Tyne Tees Television for six months and was inspired by the people and tv surroundings.
Producing works inspired by Razzmatazz children’s TV show which was produced by Tyne Tees Television and featured pop acts with games and cooking. Production took place in Newcastle and as such audience members were made up of pupils from local schools.
As an artist in an unusual setting, Rowe faced both positive and negative comments in response to the work produced.
Among staff at Tyne-Tees, Lizzie’s work has been “A talking point producing shades of controversy, even anger! She has provided a much appreciated focal point of interest.”
Derek Smith from the Entertainment Department, in speaking about Rowe’s time discussed the interaction between artist and staff as the most important part of an artist’s placement:
“We’re not always what people expected or wanted. Lizzie didn’t present a record of the life of the station. It wasn’t a survey, but some people had the idea that it should be that. Instead it was a kind of synthesis of his ideas about television.”
One picture caused considerable controversy – a painting of Jools Holland, presenter of the renowned pop music programme “Tube”, interviewing a pregnant girl who, according to Derek Smith, “is looking quite sad.”
The symbolism which Lizzie sought to explain escaped more than a few of the staff, Derek felt:
“But despite that, the picture itself was quite accessible. You could see quite clearly who the interviewer was, and the craft of the work is quite traditional. The picture to me seemed to be saying something about youth and its culture – the way the culture suggests that youth has everything going for it. The pregnant girl, however, suggests that youth sometimes has a future which is severely limited.”
Lizzie’s response to the project was quite organic, creating a working environment that perfectly suited her creative abilities:
“While watching television, I found myself in the unique position of giving a highly personal interpretation of what I saw. Throughout my placement, I had a steady stream of company visitors in the studio. I explained my work, my creative process, and the choice of subject matter, providing them with an insight into how an artist works. I aimed to dispel the myth of ‘artists in their ivory towers’ and offer a different perspective on television, one that they may not have been aware of.”
Artists’ Agency believed that artist residencies provided mutual benefits: artists could develop projects, learn new skills, and gain clarity, while companies enjoyed the creative stimulus and new publicity opportunities.
The Artist
Born in 1955, Lizzie Rowe spent her early childhood in Portsmouth before moving to Wolverhampton at the age of 12. Her artistic roots run deep; her father was an artist and head of fine art at Wolverhampton Polytechnic, and her mother an English teacher. Lizzie fondly recalls creating her first oil painting at the age of seven—a tree cut in half, vividly depicting sap rising up the trunk and into the branches.
Lizzie began life as Stephen. As he grew older, he became aware of the fluidity of gender and used art as a means of transitioning. Clothing became a significant element for Lizzie, who used it in her artworks to express his transgender identity and explore the roles of women in relation to domestic life.
Lizzie pursued her studies at Reading University from 1974 to 1978 and later lectured in Fine Art at both Newcastle and Wolverhampton polytechnics. She has exhibited her work in prestigious venues such as the National Portrait Gallery (1980), Ikon Gallery (1981), and Newcastle Polytechnic Gallery.
By 1980, Lizzie was employed at Newcastle Polytechnic as a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, and she had a loving partner and daughter. By the late 1980s, Lizzie decided to transition. By 1990, she was cross-dressing in public, and by 1995, she had undergone surgery to become a woman.
Lizzie was determined to make her way as an artist that was finally settled in her own identity and despite facing the prejudices of society, went on to produces 100’s of works often been compared to masters like Rembrandt and Gustave Courbet, and she cites influences from artists such as Velázquez, Goya, and Manet.
Notably, Lizzie painted the retired vice-chancellor of Newcastle University, and her paintings adorn the grand staircases of the Theatre Royal in Newcastle. Her work displayed at the Biscuit Factory and the Laing Art Gallery. Among her most significant pieces is ‘Dysphoria,’ an 8ft by 8ft painting, the largest work produced.
Helix Arts’ forty-year archive continues to inform artists. In late 2024, we committed to supporting the ‘Queer Pleasure Archive,’ an art project led by Sarah Li and the inception of a new archive in the North East. The Queer Pleasure Archive will release a digital toolkit on socially engaged artist methodologies for queering archives and collections. This toolkit will evolve as the archive itself develops, with plans to continue beyond the project’s lifespan.
Artists like Lizzie are often featured in our collections, but their struggles are frequently overlooked.
Art at Work Artists
Virginia Bodman working at Durham Cathedral
Christine Butler at Wrekenton Library
Brian Chalkley at British Steel on Teesside
Simon Granger at Aycliffe Hospital, County Durham
Stella Smith at the North Eastern Co—operative Society
Chris Stephens at Sunderland Association Football Club
Janina Struk at Washington New Town
Julie Livsey at Preston Hospital, North Shields
Stephen Rowe at Tyne Tees Television
Tom Wood at Vickers Defence Systems PLC
Exhibitions
Art at Work
10 Artists Working in Public
HATTON GALLERY University of Newcastle upon Tyne
July 23 – August 25 HATTON GALLERY 1984
The exhibition sets out to show how artists respond to working in new and essentially foreign environments and how they, and their work, are received by the host organisation. Two videos were showcased in the Exhibition: Come In, a half—hour video of the Tyne Tees Television’s arts programme featuring two of the artists at work. Art at Work, a fifteen minute video, featuring all ten artists included in the Exhibition. The video concentrates on two very different artist placements Aycliffe Hospital and the North Eastern Cooperative Society.
These videos can be viewed at Helix Arts, though copying is not permitted.
An exploration of the Art at Work collection can also be viewed by booking an appointment.
Recent
The Repair Shop – Series 14: Episode 5 – BBC iPlayer
Lizzie Rowe: Life and Art is at the Abject Gallery, Sunderland, December 6 2024.
