About the Film

Commissioned by Navigator North as part of the Most Creative Station programme, the film captures how artists have reimagined this civic space, blending heritage, community voices, and contemporary practice.

“Most Creative Station” is part of a wider cultural initiative funded by the Cultural Development Fund (DCMS/Arts Council England), delivered in partnership with Middlesbrough Council and TransPennine Express. From Summer 2023 to Spring 2025, the programme commissioned artists to create site-specific installations that animate the station’s architecture, history, and daily use.

Art as Public Infrastructure

The film reveals how art can operate as infrastructure, not just in the decorative sense, but as a means of connection, memory, and renewal.

“This isn’t the railway’s station. This is Middlesbrough’s railway station.”

That ethos is present in every installation. From bold textile designs and immersive soundscapes to playful reconstructions and community-sourced materials, each work brings a unique dimension to the station’s identity. The documentary follows both the process and the people behind the transformation.

Why I Made This Film

As a filmmaker, I specialise in documenting art, heritage, and socially engaged projects. What drew me to Most Creative Station was the scope and ambition, turning a transport hub into a space of meaning and imagination. Middlesbrough Railway Station isn’t just a backdrop here, it’s the main character.

The project also aligns closely with my broader work, which often focuses on place-based storytelling and the relationship between people and built environments.

Making an artist documentary film like this meant spending real time on site, not just filming the finished installations but watching how they came together. I sat with Rachael Clewlow while she worked through early sketches, followed Beth Johnson as her textile pieces took shape across several visits, and filmed Ed Carter testing sound installations late in the evening when the station was quieter. None of that patience shows up in a single striking shot, but it shapes everything about how the film moves and where it chooses to look.

Over the two years the programme ran, from 2023 through to 2025, the station itself changed too, seasons, footfall, the daily rhythm of commuters walking past new work without quite registering it at first. Capturing that slow shift, rather than treating the artworks as static objects, felt like the honest way to represent what Most Creative Station actually achieved.

About Navigator North

Navigator North is a Tees Valley-based arts organisation that supports artists, places, and communities through socially engaged and place-based creative practice. Since 2010, they have worked to make the arts more visible and accessible across the North East by commissioning public artworks, activating underused spaces, and facilitating opportunities for artists to connect with local heritage and identity.

From pop-up studios to large-scale cultural programmes like Most Creative Station, Navigator North empowers artists to respond to place and community through collaboration, research, and creativity.

Navigator North frequently partners with cultural institutions, local authorities, and community groups to shape projects that reflect regional identity and support regeneration.

Learn more about their work at navigatornorth.co.uk.