THE ART OF RAISING MONEY TO FIGHT CANCER

The north east’s ‘own’ art gallery is celebrating its second birthday with a party - and by raising money for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

The North East Art Collective in Eldon Garden, Newcastle, is dedicated to talent from the region and features the work of 116 artists.  On 1st November, from 5.30pm until 9.30pm, the gallery is inviting art lovers to join their celebrations and meet artists over a glass of wine and nibbles at the gallery.

It is a chance to view an oil painting of the River Tyne by sought-after local artist Walter Holmes, which will be sold in aid of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.  The painting is on display from today (Saturday 27th October) and has a reserve of £1,000.

The galleries celebration is also the first opportunity to see an 18” bronze sculpture of Sir Bobby by Tom Maley.  The sculpture ( number one of only 25 ) is a  replica of Tom’s statue of Sir Bobby at St James’ Park and will be auctioned at the Bike For Bobby dinner on the 25th November.

The Bike For Bobby dinner, at the Gateshead Hilton, will celebrate the achievements of former Newcastle United player Robbie Elliott and his friend Phil Gray who are cycling across Europe between all the clubs managed by Sir Bobby to raise funds to fight cancer.

The North East Art Collective is the brainchild of John Thompson who, after redundancy, decided to follow his dreams and opened what is the north east’s premier gallery for local talent.

John says: “We’re very proud to be supporting the work of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.  The North East Art Collective exists to promote local talent and I think Sir Bobby would approve of that.

“There are so many talented artists in this region using a wide variety of styles and techniques.  We’d like to invite anyone with an interest in local art to join us on Thursday (1st November) to see what’s on offer and help us celebrate our birthday.”

The North East Art Collective houses artists specialising in watercolours, oils, photography, glass, ceramics, furniture design, textiles and sculpture.  The aim of the gallery is to showcase local talent across a range of artistic disciplines and offer for sale a range of work suitable for every pocket.

It has 10 galleries behind its small shop front and Walter Holmes and Tom Maley are just two of the North East Art Collective’s artists.  Other popular names include Mary Ann Rogers, Kevin Day, Roy Francis Kirton, Jim Edwards, Benie Wisniewski, Anthony Marshall, Charles Evans and Edward Tibbs.