Our Values

Shieldfield Art Works is an artist-led organisation committed to creativity, theological critique and community engagement. As a project of the Methodist Church, we are built upon Christian foundations of seeking truth, challenging injustice, social activism and operating for the common good. Anyone, of any faith or none, is welcome to participate in our programme.

HOSPITALITY: Through the artistic practice of creative hospitality we seek to make our space open to all. We give space for conversations, different perspectives and encounters covering all aspects of life; including art, faith and wider society. We believe that many of these topics are best explored in community and in the context of supportive relationships.

ART & ENQUIRY: Through a programme of engaging and challenging art, with a strong focus on socially engaged practice, we are committed to asking questions about art, faith and community. We use art as a mode of enquiry to explore all of life, including different viewpoints of theology, church practice, society and politics.

COMMUNITY ACTIVISM: Through the use of art and enquiry, we seek positive change for the welfare of the city, its community and its individual inhabitants. We are interested in all the challenges of life, in order to seek out ways of supporting and enabling social transformation. We are particularly committed to collaborating with local communities to seek good for our area of Shieldfield in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Rest & Rhythm: Throughout all these values, we try to maintain a rhythm of care and rest for others and ourselves. Maintaining a rhythm of rest ensures we focus on actions of quality, rather than actions of mass production.