Each year, artists in residence have collaborated with local schools, community groups and individuals to make art accessible and meaningful for people of all ages and backgrounds.
Local schools have been central to this engagement. Pupils have worked directly with artists either at VARC’s home at Highgreen or in their own classrooms, developing creative confidence and exploring the relationship between art and the surrounding rural environment. Schools that have taken part include Bellingham Middle School, Byrness First School (now closed), Greenhaugh First School, Humshaugh First School, Kielder First School, Otterburn First School, St Charles RC First School in Newcastle, West Woodburn First School and William Howard School in Brampton.
VARC has also hosted numerous open studios, workshops, and community events, all free and open to the public. These have encouraged participation from local residents, artists, and visitors alike, helping to strengthen social connections through creativity. Occasionally, larger projects have been made possible through additional funding – for example, The Travelling Hearth built a much-loved outdoor pizza oven at Highgreen with the help of community volunteers, that was used regularly for school and group visits.
Beyond schools, VARC’s artists have worked extensively with adult groups, particularly those who are disadvantaged, marginalised or vulnerable. These have included Bill Quay Community Farm (Gateshead), CRISIS Skylight Centre (Newcastle), Crossings (a music charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers), the Farsi Speakers Community Group (Wallsend), FLOW community hub (North Shields), New Warlands Farm (Burnhope), and Sangini, a South Shields and Sunderland-based Black and minority women-led community arts organisation committed to ending gender-based violence.
Engagement has also extended to community groups across Northumberland and the Tyne Valley, such as youth clubs in Bellingham, Otterburn, Simonburn and Stonehaugh; Corsenside Recreation Access Group; the Friends of Rupert’s Wood in Redesdale; Freeflow Community Project carers in Bellingham; North Tyne Children’s Centre and North Tynies Forest School; the North Tyne and Redesdale Agricultural Society; St Francis Church in Byrness; Elsdon residents and the Elsdon Wood Elves group.
Through these sustained partnerships, VARC has built a strong legacy of creativity, inclusion and collaboration, demonstrating how art can bring communities together, enrich rural life, and support social wellbeing across generations.
