Middlesbrough College students show ‘Belonging’ at Little Boro
The student exhibition brings work about Middlesbrough’s communities into a shipping-container gallery in Centre Square, alongside free activities at Middlesbrough Art Week.
Middlesbrough College said on 29 September that its Art and Design and Fashion Communication students are showing ‘Belonging’ in a shipping-container gallery at Little Boro in Centre Square, Middlesbrough. The display gives their work a public setting during Middlesbrough Art Week; the college says it opened on 24 September.
The college describes the exhibition as a response to the experiences, cultures and stories that shape the town. According to its account, students have used video, photography, printmaking, costume, fashion, charcoal and fine-line drawing. Their subject is what it means to be from, live in or connect with Middlesbrough, seen through the work of young artists and designers.
What visitors can see at Belonging
The range of materials means the student container is not devoted to a single art form. The college lists moving images and photographs alongside printed work, clothing and drawings. It says the students drew on the town’s heritage, communities and changing future. Those descriptions come from the college’s announcement; it does not provide a work-by-work guide to the container.
Kelly Lisle, the college’s work experience and industry placement team leader, said some students are also volunteering for Middlesbrough Art Week and hosting the exhibition. She said each exhibited piece will become part of a student’s portfolio. The project therefore puts their course work before visitors while giving some students a role in presenting it.
One exhibiting student, identified by the college as Billie Jo, said the group made pieces showing what the town and their community mean to them. She welcomed the chance to show the work in the town centre, where members of the public could encounter it. The college identifies her by first name and says she is 17; its published account is the source of her comments.
Little Boro dates and free activities
Little Boro is a temporary group of shipping containers turned into creative spaces in Centre Square. Middlesbrough Art Week lists the site at Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2BF, and describes its workshops and activities as free. Its programme includes exhibitions, installations, performances and activities for families, placing the college display within a wider public arts site.
The college says ‘Belonging’ opened on 24 September and would run for nine days. The wider Little Boro programme lists activities on Saturday 3 October, but the available accounts do not explicitly confirm that the student container will be open that day. Visitors planning specifically to see ‘Belonging’ should check the organiser’s programme before travelling; 3 October is the last day of activities listed here, not a verified closing date for the student display.
For 3 October, the organiser lists performances by Sidequest at 11am and 2pm, as well as family workshops. Its daily programme lists drop-in dinosaur-making from 10am to 4pm. It also schedules free Art in Boro zine-making with Tees Zine Works on 3 October at 10–11.30am, 12.30–2pm and 2.30–4pm. Those sessions are part of the wider Little Boro programme, rather than the college exhibition.
How the students’ work fits the wider art week
Middlesbrough Art Week lists Middlesbrough College alongside the Northern School of Art, Georgia D’Silva and Jessie Marie Butler among contributors showing work at Little Boro. Other features named by the organiser include a colourful entrance arch by Morag Myerscough, structures created for Centre Square by Middlesbrough-based Sawdust and a temporary tribute to the Dorman Long Tower by Sum Place. The organiser says Little Boro is made possible through its partnership with Middlesbrough Council, with support from Arts Council England; four projects were enabled by Borderlands.
The town is also hosting the Turner Prize exhibition at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, known as MIMA. That is a separate exhibition from ‘Belonging’ at Little Boro. The Art Newspaper reported from its press opening that the Turner Prize show opened to the public on 26 September and is scheduled to run until 29 March 2027. Its four shortlisted artists are Tanoa Sasraku, Marguerite Humeau, Simeon Barclay and Kira Freije.
The two exhibitions offer different ways into the art taking place in Middlesbrough. The Turner Prize brings work by four shortlisted artists into MIMA, while the college’s contribution is a student-made display in an outdoor, temporary arts space. For residents considering a visit this week, Little Boro’s published programme gives the Centre Square location and the remaining activities; the precise final opening day of the ‘Belonging’ container still needs confirmation.
Sources and context
- Young creatives take centre stage as Turner Prize comes to MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough College
- Community 2026Middlesbrough Art Week
- Turner Prize 2026 opens in northeast of England at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern ArtThe Art Newspaper
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