newcastle_under-Lyme

Artists Wanted for ArtSlam!

Hey artists!

Appetite, ArtsKeele and Newcastle Business Improvement District (BID) are excited to announce ArtSlam 2025, a dynamic, live public event taking place in Newcastle-under-Lyme. And we are seeking talented artists to participate and showcase their creativity as part of this vibrant and fun evening!

Event details:

  • Date: Friday 27 June 2025
  • Location: Astley Place (formerly York Place), Newcastle-under-Lyme
  • Categories: Visual 2D Art, Ceramics, Spoken Word
There's a large open space with lots of people milling about. In the centre is a set of 3 tables in a U shape where 3 artists are working in clay while others look on. The artist facing us wearing a green beret is sculpting something around a thin stand, and their name tag reads Jasmine Simpson.

What to expect

ArtSlam 2025 will feature rounds where artists create their work live and compete for audience votes. Expect DJs, a bar and a night full of creativity and energy!

This is a paid opportunity for all participating artists. Plus it’s a fantastic platform to engage with the community, gain exposure, and celebrate the arts in a fun and competitive environment.

We’ll be using the exciting space of Astley Place, which is in the process of development by Capital & Centric. Expect a roof, flat floor and some walls, whilst not being a fully enclosed room.

3 people are standing on a raised platform in a large space atmospherically lit by uplights. They are casually dressed with beanies, caps, hoodies, and even one pair of loose black trousers with a pattern of 'lazy oaf' written in white. The chap at the front is speaking into a roving mic while looking at his phone.
The image shows a female figure on the left with long dark braids and wearing glasses. They are holding a pencil and are drawing onto a canvas on the right hand side of the image. The canvas is on a wooden easel.

How to apply

If you are a visual 2D artist, ceramicist, or spoken word performer interested in participating, please express your interest by email to askus@appetite.org.uk in one of the following formats:

In writing including:

  • Examples of your work
  • One paragraph on why you would love to be part of ArtSlam
  • One paragraph on your experience and practice so far
  • Your contact details

By voice note including:

  • Examples or descriptions of your work
  • Say why you would love to be part of ArtSlam
  • Tell us briefly about your experience and practice so far
  • Your contact details

How will we decide

If we have more artists interested in taking part than we are able to have along, Appetite, ArtsKeele, and Newcastle BID will shortlist based on the information provided. We’ll be thinking about:

  • Choosing a diverse range of artists
  • Making sure there will be variety in what the audience will be able to watch being made
  • Providing a quality offer in terms of work created

Deadline for applications is Monday 12 May.

We look forward to seeing your incredible talent and creativity at Art Slam 2025!

ArtSlam 2025 is a partnership event between Appetite, ArtsKeele and Newcastle-under-Lyme BID, in collaboration with Capital & Centric, and supported by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. It follows on from ArtSlam at Goods Yard in 2021, delivered by Appetite in collaboration with Capital & Centric and supported by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

All imagery is from the ArtSlam 2021 at Goods Yard, Stoke-on-Trent, with photography by Jenny Harper.

The Appetite logo in blue. Shows a circular design with a love heard shape inside. Appetite is written below the shape.
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VR Swings with Studio Go Go

“Remember swinging in the playground as a child? Enjoying sensations of speed & weightlessness as you swooped high & low, laughing with friends, hoping they didn’t spot that you were a little scared?

We’re harnessing those magical motion-memories to take audiences on incredible, action-packed adventures.”

Brendan Walker, Studio Go Go Founder & Director

Volo: Dreams of Flight by Studio Go Go

Fancy taking flight in one of four award-winning virtual da Vinci flying machines?

Flap and soar over cliffs as an Ornithopter bird-person. Join a psychedelic aviator’s ballet in Aerial Screw. Shoot into satellite orbit from a renaissance cannon. Bank and weave in a glider across extraterrestrial landscapes …

Studio Go Go have designed four amazing, other-worldly landscapes for you to fly through. All you need is a Virtual Reality (VR) headset and a swing and you can flap, soar and glide your way through those fantasy worlds like you’ve never imagined.

So come fly with Appetite, and Newcastle-under-Lyme BID. There’s no need to book, just drop by, take your place on a swing – including a platform swing suitable for wheelchair users – and start your virtual adventure!

When:

Friday 21 March: 10.30am-4.30pm

Saturday 22 March, 10am-4pm

Where: Outside Guildhall in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre

Cost: The event is totally free and there is no need to book

Access: There will be four swings, one of which is a platform swing suitable for wheelchair users. The combined weight limit for the visitor and chair is 200kg. However, there is a porter’s chair that you may transfer into if you are comfortable and able to do so.

A man is seen from the waist up swinging on a swing with metal chains. He’s surrounded by a structure that we can partly see that consists of metal poles and pastel-coloured Perspex panels with writing on them. The man has a moustache and is wearing a black t-shirt with sunglasses tucked into the neck. He’s also wearing a large pair of grey goggles that have a blue panel over the eye area with words on it reading ‘VOLO dreams of flight’. The man has his mouth wide open in a way that looks like he’s enjoying what he can see in the goggles.
An older man with white hair and beard is in the open air on a patch of grass. He’s sitting in a wheelchair that is on a metal platform attached to swing chains and surrounded by a structure of metal scaffolding that we can’t see in full. The man is wearing a large pair of grey goggles that have a blue panel over the eye area with words on it reading ‘VOLO dreams of flight’.

Parking:

The nearest car park to Newcastle Common is Lymelight Boulevard, 27 Paradise Street, ST5 1RS. This is a multi-story pay-and-display car park with blue badge parking.

There are some options for street-level blue-badge parking within a short walk from the Guildhall:

  • Closest are two spaces outside Chatwin’s at the end of the High Street, a one-minute walk away
  • Very slightly further away, Corporation Street has some paid parking spaces, which are free to blue badge holders
  • There are also a few spaces opposite Queen’s Gardens at the bottom of Ironmarket
  • Another four free-to-use blue badge spaces are situated behind Patty’s on Barracks Road

Facilities:

The public toilets are s very short walk away on Hassell Street, and MacDonalds rest rooms are generally open to the public.

There is a Changing Places toilet in Castle House, a two-minute walk from the Guildhall in Queen’s Gardens.

Appetite works in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre in partnership with Newcastle-under-Lyme Business Improvement District and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.

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We Are Here

We Are Here – A Residency by Ian Mood

Over two months Ian Mood observed and sketched in independent pubs and cafes across Newcastle-under-Lyme. Those sketches have now been turned into We Are Here – paintings capturing, not only the people who worked and socialised there, but also the spirit, the feel, and the hustle and bustle. Or what Ian calls: “the vibrant new spaces and faces of our town.”

Ian’s previous residency for Appetite at Newcastle Common called Open Up was in 2021 at a time when the world look very different.

The paintings that emerged from that residency were paintings of scared figures – with an unsure future – as seen on Newcastle High Street. Ian says:

“Now to me the town feels very different; I’m hopeful for our future and I see people around me who feel the same. So I’m spending time painting in a few of my favourite venues including Mellards, Anasma (Greek Bakery), and Piccoloco.”

You can see the paintings on display at each location throughout March. Go in, say hi, enjoy the artwork, and support local independent businesses. It’s a win all round.

See We Are Here until 31 March. Admission is free. Venues are:

Anasma Greek Bakery 7 Queens Parade

Mellards Bar Mellards Warehouse, Market Lane

Piccoloco 2a Hassell Street

Appetite works in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre in partnership with Newcastle-under-Lyme Business Improvement District and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.

*What is an artist’s residency?

A residency is when an artist spends time in a different place for an amount of time. The place, people and organisations they come into contact with usually feed into the work that they create.  This allows them to develop new ideas and talk to different kinds of people to get inspiration for new work. Sometimes they use a residency to try something really different that they haven’t done before. 

Make a Donation

Help us continue what we do
Donate Now

Ambassadors

Spread the word, get rewards!
Find Out More

Volunteer

Make friends & gain experience
Join the team

Appetite
New Vic Theatre
Etruria Rd,
Newcastle-under-Lyme,
Staffordshire ST5 0JG

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