30 April 2026
"Sunderland is a city of makers – that’s where the buildings’ names come from – so I am thrilled that these buildings really are reflecting that creative spirit”
Fine Art academics from the University of Sunderland are spotlighting their work in the latest installment of Transitions, a series of pop art exhibitions based in the city centre.
Hands On: Pedagogy, Practice, Research is the latest exhibition based in the Maker building, at Riverside Sunderland, that explores Fine Art education and the cultivation of connections between teaching, art and creative practice research.
This is part of a series of exhibitions that are taking place at the Maker Meanwhile Gallery on the ground floor of the Maker Building on Plater Way, part of the new Maker & Faber development in Sunderland City Centre.
James Hutchinson, Programme Leader for MA Visual Practice, says: "We have created a vibrant exhibition celebrating the work of the University of Sunderland’s Fine Art staff, across sculpture, print, digital media, photography, and collaborative practice.
“Developed in partnership with Maker, the exhibition brings together emerging and established artists, creative technicians and our wider Fine Art practice research community, whose work reflects the material, political and technological urgencies shaping creative practice today.”
Curated by Dr Suzy O’Hara, Lecturer in Digital Arts and Enterprise, the artists whose work is being exhibited are made up of researchers, technicians and lecturers at the University.
Hands On: Pedagogy, Practice, Research will be open to the public until Tuesday 26 May 2026.
James Silver, who is managing director of Landid, the development manager for Maker & Faber, said: “It’s fantastic that we have been able to partner with the University of Sunderland to showcase the incredible creative talent that exists in this city.
“Sunderland is a city of makers – that’s where the buildings’ names come from – so I am thrilled that these buildings really are reflecting that creative spirit through hosting exhibitions like these.”
As part of the opening evening (28 April), the Speaking in Tongues initiative at the University led a workshop to explore the themes of the exhibition in practice.
Speaking in Tongues is an initiative led by Hannah Gawne, Natalie Gale and Dr Fiona Larkin that reflects on the making processes inherent in artmaking and critically examines how knowledge is communicated within creative practice and teaching.
Dr Larkin, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, said: “Since 2023, we have been developing a series of workshops that invite participants to engage in tacit modes of making.
“These sessions foreground embodied, intuitive and process-based forms of knowledge, enabling participants to reflect on their creative processes. Through this collaborative activity, we are building a co-constructed glossary of terms that helps put this usually unspoken knowledge into words, so it can be discussed, shared and developed over time.”
The exhibition is the second in the Transitions series, showcasing Contemporary Fine Art and creative practice research at the University of Sunderland.
The Transitions exhibition programme consists of three co-curated exhibitions, an associated programme of events, talks and final publication.
For more information on studying Fine Art at the University of Sunderland, click here.
For MA Visual Practice, click here.
To find out more about Maker & Faber, visit www.makerfaber.co.uk