2024 Artists of the Year Share Successes One Year On

In 2024, five talented local artists were named Tees Valley Artists of the Year in a new drive to develop the next generation of musicians, filmmakers, writers and creators.

They benefitted from a career-changing £30,000 investment from the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority, alongside further support and mentoring, to take their work to the next level.

 Now, as the Artists of the Year for 2025 are set to be announced at an event on 13 May, we caught up with the original five – Lisette Auton, Claire A Baker, Andy Berriman, Amelia Coburn and Scott Turnbull – to find out how the programme has helped supercharge their professions.

 Lisette Auton

Multidisciplinary artist Lisette launched her third book, “Lights Up” at Darlington Hippodrome, where the novel is set, leading to a massive book signing. She continued backing up-and-coming writers at workshops in Darlington library, helping Artist of the Year support filter through to new talent.

On World Book Day Lisette worked with a number of local schools to highlight the joys of reading and was commissioned to write an immersive play for school pupils.

She said: “I’ve done book signings in shops, but nothing on that scale. It was gorgeous to have the chance to say hello to the people who’d come along.

“It’s absolutely amazing to go and inspire that new generation of children because that’s how I wanted to be a writer.”

She also secured mentoring on her new book, her first piece of creative non-fiction for adults, based around her grandad’s old nautical tables, both of which wouldn’t be possible without this support.

She added: “TVCA has enabled me to move into writing into another sphere that I’m not known for.”

 Claire A Baker

Claire’s textiles and mixed media work had previously focused on the Ukraine conflict. In August 2024 she exhibited her work in Middlesbrough’s twin town of Oberhausen in Germany, making new work based on audience feedback and reactions.

She received a VIP behind the scenes tour to discover Bowes Museum’s archives, culminating in a commission that will be on show at the museum for the next year.

She said: “It’s a nice step in between working small-scale and large-scale, which I’m now focusing on.”

Claire spent October travelling to research venues and visited Venice Biennale, the biggest contemporary arts platform in Europe, thanks to one of her programme mentors, where she sought inspiration and undertook research.

Claire has secured a solo exhibition at Mima in October 2025, which is a huge achievement.

She added: I would never have done that without this programme. Every single experience was fantastic and I just feel so lucky – it’s, like, unreal.”

 Andy Berriman

Filmmaker Andy’s day job sees him work on corporate and commercial videos and music videos. He’s written and directed short films and in the past year he’s shadowed on CBBC show The Dumping Ground, increasing his professional network.

Thanks to Artist of the Year funding, in January Andy was able to go off-grid and focus solely on writing his first full-length film, with his first draft now all but complete. His project mentors are working with him on the piece, and he has hired a script editor to further the work.

He said: “I said I was going to write this script by hook or by crook so once I got it going, it was brilliant. I really cracked it open.”

Andy also got the chance to visit Berlinale, the renowned Berlin film festival, to explore movies being created by other independent British filmmakers to further understand the landscape.

He added: “It’s been the most unbelievable opportunity.”

 Amelia Coburn

Singer-songwriter Amelia has seen numerous opportunities to take centre stage in the past year. This backing allowed her to take on her first headline UK tour with her band – culminating in a gig at Stockton’s Georgian Theatre. She also had the opportunity to represent the region at the prestigious SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, putting herself in front of a global audience.

Alongside experts in the workshops given as part of the support, she was able to create a three-year career strategy. At Christmas, she collaborated with another Artist of the Year, Scott Turnbull, on a popular festive cabaret combining music, theatre and performance.

She said: “Without the support of this programme, I wouldn’t have been able to go on tour – and it’s such an important part of being a musician but it’s not often achievable. I feel like I’ve made not just mentors, but almost friends in this industry now. It’s been the best year of my life.”

 Scott Turnbull

Theatre-maker and “nincompoopery” practitioner Scott has seen the Artist of the Year award benefit a piece of work called Unexpected Item in the Bagging Area. An industry professional sharing of his What’s in the Bag workshops saw a representative from the Arts Council attend, leading to a significant investment.

He said: “I’ve always worked on bids under £15,000. With this bid, because of the support of TVCA, I went for a bid of £50,000 and we were successful.”

It’s also given Scott the ability to set up his own clowning lessons – his Nincompoopery Workshop – alongside Stockton’s ARC, which has proved very popular and let him engage with local practitioners.

Scott said: “The last year’s been phenomenal, it’s been exciting, fulfilling.”

Scott will also soon be launching a crowdfunder to help him secure a spot at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

 Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “Everyone involved in this groundbreaking project is over the moon to hear the success stories of these local talents – proving our bold approach to artistic support has worked and taken them to the next stage.

“They have not only grabbed all opportunities with both hands to go on to bigger and better things, but are proving to be fantastic ambassadors for Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool, showing the strength of our creative sector to the.

“This isn’t just about supporting individuals – although that’s obviously a huge part of it. It’s also about building resilience in our sector, bolstering relationships and driving more collaboration to supercharge our creative economy.”

Funding provided through the Artist of the Year comes via the UK Government and its UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), with the programme being supported by the Tees Valley Business Board.