Welcome to NLC’s Arts Development exhibition programme! Currently located at Bellshill Cultural Centre*, the annual exhibition programme is a vibrant celebration of creativity and contemporary practice. Our Visual Arts Officer curates and manages four exhibitions per year, showcasing an exciting mix of visual art, craft and photography. Featuring both local and national contributing artists, each exhibition brings together diverse perspectives, techniques and creative voices.
A key part of the programme is our commitment to community engagement. To spark ideas and inspire meaningful conversations, the exhibitions are generally accompanied by artist talks or hands‑on masterclasses, offering visitors the chance to hear directly from the artists about their ideas, processes and inspirations. These artist-led sessions provide a rare insight into creative practice and allow participants to learn new skills, tailored to different levels of experience.
The Arts Development exhibition programme is more than just ‘a display’. It is a platform for artistic exploration and a celebration of the talent that enriches our communities. We invite you to join us throughout the year, to experience a programme that is hopefully vibrant, engaging and right on your doorstep!
*On occasions Arts Development collaborate on exhibitions in other NL venues.
In Our Own Words
4 June – 28 July 2026
Bellshill Cultural Centre
In Our Own Words, is a celebration of the personalities, journeys and stories of of NL Studio participants – NL Arts Development’s adult drama group with mixed abilities.
This collection of head shots and audio stories invites you to look past the roles they play on stage and discover who they really are. Each portrait offers a peak into their real lives filled with resilience and humour. It highlights, for them, the importance of coming to NL Studio every week, a community where everyone belongs, every voice matters and every story deserves its spotlight.
Built to Last
26 August – 3 November 2026
Bellshill Cultural Centre
Built to Last invites a new generation to rediscover and reinterpret the evolving landscape of Ravenscraig at a moment when the site continues to shift through ongoing redevelopment.
None of the young participants have lived experience of the steelworks that once defined this ground, yet through a collaboration between NL Arts Development and Tricky Hat, they can now begin to imagine how Ravenscraig’s story might be carried forward.
Guided by artist Stacy Calderwood and Kim Beveridge, groups from The Venny and Lanarkshire Mosque took part in walks, conversations and creative workshops that introduced them to Ravenscraig’s industrial past and its rewilded present. As groups explored the site, they gathered natural fragments and man‑made remnants, objects that hinted at what the land once was and what it is becoming. These materials became tools for making, inspiring the clay tiles that now form the concrete trees at the heart of this exhibition.
Participants also collected stories from the community, weaving voices, memories and found objects into their creative responses. The exhibition brings together these fragments; artworks, testimonies and moments from a live on-site performance in May 2026, which reveal the layers beneath the headlines. Together, we can wonder what it means for a place and its people to build something that truly lasts.
The Last Foundations: Ravenscraig 30 Years on by Chris Leslie
5 September – 2 November 2026
North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre
Marking 30 years since Ravenscraig’s demolition, The Last Foundations is a multimedia project documenting the lasting impact of the steelworks’ closure on the local community, exploring memory, identity, and resilience through film, photography, and personal stories.
