News: You Heard Us @ ARC Stockton

Stockton is a forward thinking town and understands nurturing the arts and creative scene to create a vibrant place to amplify important messages. Whether it be street theatre via SIRF, installation art from ARC Stockton or the many music events that take place around the town, the art and its message is often and effectively taken out on the confines of venues and buildings to inform and inspire passers by.

If you head down to Stockton from now until March 2022 then check out the new public art installation You Heard Us at ARC Stockton and throughout the town centre. The idea for the project comes from Newcastle-based writer, theatre-maker and artist Luca Rutherford (Learning How to Die, ARC Stockton; Hold On Let Go; Summerhall) and are all about celebrating women, women listening to each other, and women defiantly taking up public spaces.

After talking to the women who took part, Luca worked with each participant to decide where to display each large scale portrait, ultimately asking the public to harness them and their power, and question whether we are listening and being listened to.

Luca adds, ‘I have come up with this idea because with portraits in public spaces  you can make a lot of noise in a very quiet way. I often find that we listen to the people who shout the loudest, but I want this project to make space for anyone who feels quiet as well as loud.’