大象传媒

We went along to independent art gallery Kitch-en to see if the Boro is ready for boho.

Mark Warner is one of the artists who run kitch-en.

"We started about a year ago, 2 friends who came form different creative backgrounds and we wanted to fuse our skills together and raise the cultural level of what鈥檚 happening in Middlesbrough.

"This is our first major stepping stone, having our own space. We used to meet in pubs and coffee shops and it was a nightmare.

"Before we found this property, we looked at getting a property, but to break even we鈥檇 have to charge artist a lot.

"When you鈥檙e trying to make it, you don鈥檛 have much money, especially in this area, where鈥檚 there not much of an outlet for artwork."

Jenny Hall,听 arts officer for Middlesbrough Council says, 鈥淚 think mima has crated an impetus for artists to get involved and through our artist network, Map, we鈥檝e found that a lot of artist are looking for spaces and we鈥檙e looking at ways to do this.

"The plans for Middlehaven include a creative bohemian quarter and we have to develop the creatives alongside this, we want to bring a broad mix of people together,听 and we鈥檙e working towards it to make it happen."

Mark says, "we were close to moving out of Middlesbrough, but we decided to stay.

"I went to college in Newcastle which has undergone regeneration over the past 10 years, and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 starting to happen in Middlesbrough now."

To listen to the full radio feature, go to the 'see also' section.