With winter looming and as the days continue to get shorter, the theme of The Lumen Print Collection takes on an uplifting new significance. Curated around the central theme of light by Northern Print, the collection features original prints by six artists, two of whom have been especially commissioned to make new work for the building.

Northern Print, the North East centre for original printmaking, was approached at the very beginning of 2020 to put together a bespoke collection of prints for The Lumen and owing to the Covid-19 pandemic the team had to find creative ways of working in order to install the artwork and launch the project.

The project also included curation of the foyer space featuring artisan objects and furnishings with a regional flavour

The need to maintain social distancing meant that the collection could not be launched with a large social event so Newcastle-based filmmaker Alan Fentiman has worked with each of the artists to create a series of short films which gives insight into their ideas and working practices and has formed a rolling online launch.

Commissioned artist Nick Loaring said,

“This is fantastic for me; I hope that it is fantastic for all the other artists involved and Northern Print and The Lumen as in they are supporting artists who are really passionate. Ultimately the project is to make working in that building really interesting and really exciting and to inspire people into doing great stuff.”

Speaking about the project, Northern Print’s Director Anna Wilkinson said,

“Working with the team at The Lumen has been such a positive experience for Northern Print and the artists through a difficult time for everyone. We began working on this project in early spring as the first lock down approached. We are concluding it as the glow of autumn begins to turn to winter and the second lockdown is upon us. The idea of ‘light’ in itself was such a positive theme to be thinking about with phrases such as ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ appearing so often in the media. 

The last film by Alan Fentiman which reflects on all six artists’ relationships with light helps us all to think about the value of light in our daily lives - whether that is the radiance of electric light suggesting the safety of indoors, the simple joy of colour or the wonder of the night sky. All things it is worth taking a moment to enjoy.

Creating positive, uplifting, and creative office spaces is really important and we hope that the artwork will mark out The Lumen as an exciting and positive place to work for everyone.”

The Lumen Print Collection artists are Rachael Clewlow, Sarah Duncan, Katherine Jones, Nick Loaring, Anja Percival and Eunice Routledge.