Dingy Butterflies CIC is a community focused arts organisation that provides opportunities for communities, primarily in Bensham & Saltwell, Gateshead, to work with and co-create projects with artists, experts and academics. Through social engagement and activism that materialises through creative endeavour we explore issues through a place-based approach in an area with low participation and engagement. We believe that creativity brings people together and can help combat the social issues communities face; explore the key issues that affect our community and support people in making a change. This is achieved using creativity and art to engage people and work with them in social action, to give people a voice in local decision making.
We work with the communities to develop and improve creative skills, create pride amongst residents and increase opportunities for people to have a voice in local decision-making. Through creativity we want to increase accessibility and enjoyment of local resources and to support people in learning new creative skills through participation in cultural events and projects. Through our work we offer opportunities for new learning and positive localised experiences for people of all ages to form deeper connections to where they live.
Dingy Butterflies CIC takes inspiration from Robert and Elizabeth Spence Watson who lived at Bensham Grove House from 1875 until 1919 and were prominent social activists in Gateshead and Newcastle. The family valued creativity, education and social justice and were tireless campaigners for workers rights, women’s education, the anti-slave trade, and with a lifelong interest in education, literature and the arts. It is these core values that Dingy Butterflies take as its starting point.
Finally, you may be wondering where the name ‘Dingy Butterflies’ comes from. JB Priestley, when researching his book an ‘English Journey’ in the early 1930’s, visited the educational settlement at Bensham Grove. He described the unemployed men from a group he visited as “the dingy butterflies of the backstreet”. We aim to re-claim the phrase for Gateshead and reuse it in a creative, positive and humorous way.