Baltic

Baltic, international centre for contemporary art located in a converted 1950s grain warehouse on the south bank of the River Tyne, Gateshead, England. It opened in July 2002 with the unusual objective of including within its remit the production of contemporary art as well as the presentation and experience of such art. Baltic has no permanent collection on display and therefore all resources are focused on commissioned works and guest artists as well as displaying the work of artists-in-residence, in a programme of exhibitions and events that changes continually. This unique arrangement accounts for Baltic sometimes being referred to as an “Art Factory”.

Dominic Williams of Ellis Williams Architects was selected by Gateshead Council to redesign the brick-clad Baltic Flour Mills in 1994. The end result, which received a Royal Institute of British Architects award for excellence, is a complex in which two riverside buildings house five galleries offering a total display area of 3,000 sq m (32,292 sq ft), in addition to artists’ studios, cinema and lecture facilities, a media lab, and a library and archive resources. The project cost an estimated £46 million (of which some £33 million was provided by the national lottery fund) and became an icon of local regeneration as well as a key part of the Newcastle-Gateshead bid to be the 2008 European City of Culture. Artists who have exhibited include Antony Gormley, Öyvind Fahlström, and Martin Puryear.