Our Place in the Family of Things: A Summer Exhibition Celebrating Community, Climate, and Creativity

15/09/2025

Sunday 14th September marked the end of the ‘Our Place in the Family of Things’ exhibition at the Dorman’s Musuem in Middlesbrough. The exhibition was collaboratively and creatively co-curated by our own Actes Trust Climate Action Middlesbrough Engagement Officer Neil McNally, alongside Jodie Sawbridge of Middlesbrough Environment City.

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Funded by the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund, the exhibition explored our relationship with the natural world through a diverse range of artworks and community contributions. It brought together professional artists, museum collections, and the voices of local people to reflect on themes of climate change, ecology, and care.

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A key feature of the exhibition was the involvement of community groups, schools and education providers, such as Abingdon Primary School, Whinney Banks Primary School, The Hope Foundation, Community Ventures, residents of Tai Hua Court, The South Tees Youth Justice Service, Camphill Village Trust and Teesside University.

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These collaborations resulted in a wide range of creative responses, from artworks and writings to new traditions of care and storytelling. Notably, children from Abingdon Primary School worked with artist Rebecca Parkin to create imaginative new monsters inspired by ecological themes.

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The exhibition also featured contributions from a wide array of artists, including:

• Fiona Glen’s writings on murex shells and extraction history

• Demelza Dhotel and Lucy Heron’s collaborative book on climate change

• Aster Guinness’ portraits

• David Hoyle’s collaged paintings

• Rebecca Parkin’s ecological art addressing rising temperatures and flooding

• Rebecca Chesney’s "Future Kit" and "Flood Stick"

• Kinga Kiełczyńska’s AI-generated fairy tale of ecological catastrophe

• Lucy Wright’s responses to new traditions of care

• Yaya Xi-lin Wang’s drawings exploring relationships with non-human kin

• Luminara Florescu’s work on rest as resistance to capitalism​​

Historical works from the Dorman Museum collection, including pieces by Thomas Bewick and Albrecht Dürer, were also on display, offering a rich context for the contemporary works.

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This exhibition was a celebration of creativity, collaboration, and climate awareness -bringing together people of all ages and backgrounds to reflect on our shared place in the family of things.

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At Actes Trust, we are incredibly proud to have been a part of the Climate Action Middlesbrough project and to contribute to this inspiring exhibition. It was a powerful and creative way to sign off our delivery on the project, celebrating the collective efforts of artists, community members, and partners across Middlesbrough.

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We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the National Lottery and its Climate Action Fund for making this work possible. Their support has enabled meaningful engagement, artistic expression, and climate awareness across our communities.