L-INK 2026/27
About L-INK
L-INK are a group of young people who work with the Laing Art Gallery and Hatton Gallery to create events, workshops, resources and make their own art work. In their most recent project, the group worked with the Hatton team to co-curate HAPPY! from the Jerwood Collection – an exhibition which explored the idea of joyfulness in creative process, inspired by Victor Pasmore’s Art Education exhibitions which displayed examples of progression in art education, and which were displayed in the Hatton during the 1950s.
The L-INK project is annual, beginning each year in October and finishing in June/July, in line with school and college terms. Each year, the L-INK project invites new participants to join, as some older members leave to study or work in different places.
L-INK 2026/27 project
For their 2026/27 project, L-INK are offered the opportunity to explore and research the Hatton’s history through it’s historical exhibition programme and reputation for connecting art, design, architecture and installation, with reference to the Basic Course taught by Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton during the 1950s & 60s. The project will incorporate research, design, practical art-making, exploring collaborative practice, as well as working with practising contemporary artists and the Hatton gallery’s team.
L-INK will explore the Hatton’s Collection and learn about pivotal exhibitions including Pasmore & Hamilton’s an exhibit and Pasmore’s Apollo Pavilion in Peterlee – as well as making connections to transient or relocated structures including Kurt Schwitters’ Merz Barn Wall. The project will culminate in the design of a large-scale temporary installation in the Hatton’s atrium in response to the Hatton’s Spring 2027 exhibition.
Free Taster session
An artist-led taster workshop takes place before the project starts, which an opportunity for potential participants to come along and find out more, meet the team and some of the existing group, and work with an artist whose practice is relevant to the project.
Lets Talk about Commitment
L-INK is a fixed-term project and we ask for a time commitment of approximately one day per month plus one potential overnight trip to visit other galleries during the summer. We understand that participants have many extra-curricular commitments and responsibilities as well as school work, so if participants find that they are unable to commit to the project, please let us know so that we can offer places to others. There is no charge to become a participant in this project.
Dates for project sessions: 2026/27*
Artist-led Taster workshop: Dates & details to follow shortly
Application deadline for L-INK 2025/26: Monday 5 October 2026
2026/27 Session Dates:
Saturday 17 October 2026
Saturday 14 November 2026
Saturday 12 December 2026
Saturday 16 January 2027
Saturday 6 OR 13 February 2027 + extra sessions as necessary – Dates TBC
Saturday 13 March 2027
Saturday 10 April 2027
Saturday May 2027 – Date TBC
Saturday June 2027 – Date TBC
Saturday July 2027– Date TBC
August: Overnight Galleries trip, dates TBC
*Session dates are subject to change to accommodate group member schedules and exhibition schedules as much as possible.
L-INK sessions usually run from 10.30am – 4pm with a break for lunch. Snacks are provided but participants should provide their own lunch. Where necessary, some sessions may be shorter and could take place via video call. Advance notice will be given.
Additional opportunities
Where possible and appropriate, we endeavour to explore exhibitions at other galleries through research trips to other venues both in and outside the local area.
See what L-INK have been up to in the past…
- L-INK 2025/26 | Hatton Gallery
- L-INK - young adults guide to Matt Rugg: Connecting Form | Hatton Gallery
- L-INK 2024/25 | Laing Art Gallery
- L-INK | Laing Art Gallery
- L-INK - young adults guide to Mali Morris | Hatton Gallery
Apply
Or contact learning@laingartgallery.org.uk or zoe.allen@northeastmuesume.org.uk for further information.
About the Hatton Gallery
Newcastle University’s Hatton Gallery was founded in 1926 and named in honour of Professor Richard George Hatton, professor of what was then the King Edward VII School of Art, Armstrong College, Durham University. He subsequently became Head of the Department of Fine Art at Newcastle University.
The Hatton’s diverse collection includes over 3,000 works from the 14th – 20th centuries. Key pieces in our paintings collection include works by Francis Bacon, Prunella Clough, Richard Hamilton, Palma Giovane, Patrick Heron and William Roberts. The gallery also has extensive archive material including paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings and textiles, and material connected to the history of the Gallery, such as exhibition posters designed and printed in the art school.
The Merz Barn Wall is part of a construction created by German artist Kurt Schwitters in a Lake District barn in 1947-8. The Elterwater Merz Barn was based on the idea of collage, in which found items are incorporated into an art work. Schwitters applied a rough layer of decorator's plaster and paint over these found objects, giving the three dimensional collage an abstract quality. Asked what it meant, he replied 'all it is, is form and colour, just form and colour'.
The barn was designed as a permanent structure, somewhere Schwitters could exhibit existing work. When he died in January 1948 it was left unfinished. In 1965, after lengthy discussions about the barn's future, the Wall was given to Newcastle University who undertook its removal, restoration and preservation.
The Laing Art Gallery was founded in 1901, by Alexander Laing, a Newcastle businessman who had made his money from his wine and spirit shop and beer bottling business. Alexander Laing didn’t leave any paintings or other art to the Gallery. He said that he was confident “…that by the liberality of the inhabitants [of Newcastle it would soon be supplied with pictures and statuary for the encouragement and development of British Art”.
The gallery today is home to an internationally important collection of art, focusing on British oil paintings, watercolours, ceramics, silver and glassware.
