City's Music Scene Celebrated at New £6m Arts & Business Centre

Sunderland’s music scene through the ages has been captured in a photographic exhibition to mark the opening of the city’s latest award-winning regeneration project.

Former Sunderland University student Mark Shotton, 23, of Washington, will be showcasing his work at thePlace – a new £6m arts and business centre in the heart of the city’s historic quarter of Sunniside - from November 10.

As well as photographing new bands performing at local gigs, Mark’s exhibition looks back at the heyday of the city’s once thriving music venue, Locarno Mecca, which attracted music legends such as Led Zeplin, David Bowie and The Who, as well as top name DJs like John Peel.

Mark said: “My work presents a compilation of bands shown at many different gigs and in different lights. The layering of lots of transparent images of the same band but in different settings conveys movement and great energy which brings the images to life.

“The roots of the project really came from the Mecca. There was a huge music community in Sunderland in the 60s and 70s and now we have a new wave of local music talent emerging in the area.

“The exhibition is about celebrating all of this and also commemorating the legacy the Mecca has left behind.”

thePlace is home to exhibition space, a café, meeting rooms, artists’ studios and a range of offices and is the latest addition to Sunniside’s exciting regeneration programme. It won the Best Office Development category at The Journal Landmark Awards earlier this month.

Sunniside Partnership, the organisation leading the regeneration of the area, is supporting Mark’s project. Ben Hall, director of Sunniside Partnership, said: “Mark is a fantastic talent and his work is really new and exciting. We are delighted to be supporting this project and attracting innovative and challenging art work to the area.

“thePlace will help to accommodate the talent we have in the city and establish Sunniside as a thriving new cultural quarter. It ties in with the city centre’s desire to become a music city.”

Cllr Paul Watson, chairman of Sunniside Partnership and leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “We are very proud of thePlace. It is a fantastic addition to the city centre and it is fitting that the opening will be celebrated through the work of a talented, local artist.”

Sunniside Partnership was set up in 2003 by Sunderland City Council, Sunderland arc, One North East and English Partnerships. thePlace development was funded by Sunderland City Council, the European Regional Development Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and One North East via the TyneWear Partnership.