About The CultureGeek Initiative

The CultureCode Initiative is a project created by Codeworks and the Newcastle Gateshead Cultural Venues working with Mima and Digital City. It has been carefully designed to create real opportunities for the North East arts and developer communities to embark on a journey of collaboration and innovation. The project will ultimately benefit the future work of both sectors and has been made possible thanks to funding by Arts Council England.

NGCV 

NewcastleGateshead Cultural Venues (NGCV) is an alliance of 10 of Newcastle and Gateshead’s leading building-based cultural presenters and producers.

NGCV, representing a full range of cultural forms, has been at the forefront of unprecedented regeneration and capital development during the last ten years.

NGCV members share a desire and a responsibility to maximise the potential of this investment by becoming both financially and creatively sustainable over the next ten years.

NGCV is

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art

Centre for Life

Dance City

Live Theatre

Northern Stage

The Sage Gateshead

Seven Stories

Theatre Royal

Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums (TWAM)

Tyneside Cinema

After a decade of more informal joint working we have been formalising our work together since early 2009, following our collective desire to investigate new models of sustainability.

Initially supported by the national Mission the Missions Money programme of action research into collaborative working, we are supported by Arts Council England and by the organisations’ significant contributions of time and expertise.  

We are making progress towards the overarching aim of becoming more resilient charitable businesses or not-for-profit organisations. We explore ways to become more efficient, more cost-effective, better informed about each other and the external landscape in which we operate, better placed to use our shared resources, better able to measure and demonstrate our collective value and better placed to engage with audiences and new technologies.

 Chief Executives meet monthly to drive and oversee the work programme, engage with stakeholders and take key decisions. Four main sub-groups each with a Chief Executive Champion, drive activities around Physical Assets, Digital, Public Engagement (including Audience engagement and marketing, with Forums for Creative Programmers, Development and Learning and Participation) and Shared Services (Finance Directors, Facilities Managers, HR Network). 

They all have ambitious work programmes aim to maximise the efficiencies and benefits of collaboration on areas where collective action makes sense.

Codeworks

At its heart, Codeworks is a passionate fan club for all things digital. We shamelessly love..
1.    the modern miracle that is the digital revolution,
2.    the creativity and innovation that digital tools have enabled.
3.    the entrepreneurs, creatives, artists and technical wizards who make the magic happen.

For nearly ten years now we've been working tirelessly to bring people together and create the connections that could enable great things to happen. We've created large and vital communities around platforms like The Thinking Digital Conference, The DIBI Web Conference, The GameHorizon Conference and Codeworks Connect among many other initiatives.

We're proud of what we've achieved thus far and excited to continue the journey we're taking with our friends, colleagues and community. We hope you'll be able to join us.

http://www.codeworksconnect.net/

http://www.thinkingdigital.co.uk/index.html

http://www.dibiconference.com/

http://www.gamehorizonconference.com/

Arts Council 

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people's lives. 

We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries - from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. 

Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. 

Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and an estimated £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.  

For more information: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/

MIMA

mima is one of the UK's leading galleries for modern and contemporary art and craft. The landmark building designed by Erick van Egeraat Architects is situated in the heart of Middlesbrough. mima opened to international critical acclaim on 27 January 2007.

mima hosts temporary exhibitions of fine art and craft from 1900 to the present. Featuring work by internationally acclaimed artists.

The gallery brings together the town's art collections for the first time, from Middlesbrough Art Gallery and Cleveland Craft Centre. Selected works from the collection are showcased in an annual collection show.

Exhibitions change throughout the year and admission is free.

For more information: http://www.visitmima.com/index.php