Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 20/06/2026 18:27:00

The Auxiliary is an artist-led creative complex and experimental events venue on Station Street in the centre of Middlesbrough. Housed in an 11,000-square-foot building, it combines artists' studios, galleries, a workshop and a performance space dedicated to experimental and sound-art practices. The organisation began in 2016 as a self-funded sound-art residency in nearby Stockton before growing into one of the leading artist-led groups in the north-east of England. It has since moved into its larger Middlesbrough home and, since 2023, has been a National Portfolio Organisation funded by Arts Council England. The complex houses around 25 studios, exhibition galleries and an experimental music venue, welcoming over a hundred artists a year through its programme. It is particularly focused on work that sits outside traditional art forms, supporting trans- and multi-disciplinary practice and a strong do-it-yourself ethos. Two sister festivals, Sonic Arts Week and Middlesbrough Art Week, anchor its calendar, working with artists at every stage from graduates and early-career talent to internationally recognised practitioners. As a venue it also hosts gigs and club nights, including bass and sound-system events drawing on its powerful audio setup. From the outset the Auxiliary has worked to counter the decline of empty retail units in the Tees Valley, taking on vacant town-centre space and giving artists the resources and community to thrive. A founding member of the Middlesbrough Cultural Partnership, it has been central to the area's wider creative regeneration. Set a few minutes' walk from Middlesbrough's train and bus stations, and currently undergoing a major capital redevelopment, the venue has helped transform part of the town's industrial landscape into a site for experimental art and culture. Its mix of studios, galleries and live events makes it an unusual and important hub in the region.