We Are Here: Capturing Newcastle-under-Lyme, The People, Places, and Stories of Our Town
Artist Ian Mood has captured how Newcastle-under-Lyme’s high street has grown into a community and culture hub.
In 2021, Staffordshire artist Ian Mood introduced Newcastle-under-Lyme to Open Up, a project that celebrated the resilience of a community navigating political turbulence and the isolating grip of a global pandemic. Four years later, Ian returns with We Are Here, a follow-up that reflects on and celebrates the evolution of Newcastle’s high street and its enduring strength. This latest project features a collection of vibrant, mural like panoramic paintings displayed in three local venues, capturing the spaces, people and stories that bring the town to life.
Ian’s first residency came about during a post Brexit era, with Trump in the White House and a series of back-to-back Covid lockdowns. Life felt heavy, and the world, quite frankly, was a mess.
At the time, Ian was primarily painting skylines in Manchester, but on his way to the galleries, he found himself regularly stepping over homeless people. It struck him that the version of life he was painting didn’t capture the full picture. Much like how Lowry’s paintings depicted the quiet, often overlooked moments of working-class life in the North, he realised that the everyday stories and overlooked moments were missing.
This realisation led to a residency with Appetite, a creative people and places programme, which gave him a shopfront studio where passersby could watch him paint, chat, and engage with the process. “You’d have kids dragging their parents in, grumpy dads who ‘don’t like art’ suddenly mesmerised by a sketch, and people connecting over stories, memories, and shared experiences,” Ian recalls.
Fast forward four years, and the transformation of the high street is evident. Ian returns for the final residency from Appetite’s Newcastle Common, a program dedicated to revitalising Newcastle-under-Lyme’s town centre by repurposing empty shops and spaces into vibrant hubs of art and creativity.
“The world felt different in 2021. Paintings were inhabited by lone figures hesitantly re-entering an uncertain world,” Ian reflects. “Now, the town feels optimistic, with new businesses welcoming fresh generations of visitors.”
However, Ian also acknowledges the challenges high streets face today: “Online shopping has decimated footfall, and to survive, our shops and public spaces must become social hubs, places of communion and culture, not just commerce. These are spaces where people come together to share common goals, ideas, and laughter.”
In 2025, cafe culture is thriving on our high streets – you only have to look at the number of coffee shops that have opened in Newcastle over the last few years to see this. Piccoloco, The Coffee House, The Greek Bakery, Mado Cafe - each growing their own individual communities within the town.
When each of the above opened I saw the same question asked on social media – “How many coffee shops does one town centre need?”
With the after affects of isolation from Covid and a large proportion of daily socialisation taking place through mobile phones and laptop screens, owed to the prowess of social media and hybrid working, people are craving the face to face connection that these spaces provide.
This shift is captured perfectly in We Are Here, which really taps into the growing importance of these community hubs.
We Are Here celebrates the venues where this sense of connection is happening in Newcastle. Sketches from the projects predecessor, Open Up are hung in Piccoloco, the father and son ran specialist coffee shop founded on the market stones of Newcastle in the depths of Covid. Pretty fitting really.
The three murals created are hung in local venues Mellards (Market Lane), Anasma Greek Bakery (Queen’s Parade) and Keele in Town (Ironmarket) encouraging people to explore the high street and even sink a cheeky pint or enjoy a delicious pastry en route. Ian recommends ‘whatever’s on the middle stump’ at Mellards and spanakopita (spinach pie) or dolmadakia (stuffed vine leaves) from the Greek Bakery.
Lunch Club (displayed at Keele in Town) depicts a monthly event run by Appetite that brings together asylum seekers and refugees, some of whom may have been in the country for only a few days and share no common language. “You throw an art activity in front of them, and suddenly they’re passing brushes, overlapping hands, and working as a team. The barriers melt away, and what’s left is connection,” Ian says.
We Are Here shares the sense of community experienced firsthand during both of Ian’s residencies with Appetite. By immersing himself in his local town, sketching at market stalls, over coffees, pastries, and pints in beloved venues, Ian became part of the spaces he depicted.
The project also takes inspiration from the Federal Arts Project of the 1930s which supported artists during the Great Depression. Thousands of painters, sculptors, and creatives were employed to produce public art that brought culture to communities and boosted morale. Ian sees parallels between that project and Appetite’s work in Newcastle; by giving artists freedom to experiment and connect with local communities, Appetite has sparked excitement for creativity and culture. Newcastle Common was a key part of this, placing artists in the town to inspire new work inspired by locality.
We Are Here highlights the everyday places and people that make up our towns: the pub regulars, business owners and local residents who keep our areas evolving, thriving and full of character.
Ian Mood, an artist of international acclaim, brings both a global perspective and deep local roots to this project. With a career that includes collaborations with Saatchi London, the National Theatre, and the Royal Exchange Manchester, Mood continues to create art that resonates on a personal level, capturing the beauty of connection and shared experience.
Quote from Anasma Greek Bakery – In a world where high streets are fading and hospitality businesses are closing their doors, it’s heartwarming to witness the efforts of individuals like Ian Mood. We feel incredibly fortunate to have been chosen to participate in this beautiful project. The stunning painting hanging in our bakery for the next month captures the essence of the moments we share in our community.