Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead has announced a major donation from North East musician Sting that kickstarts the art gallery’s fundraising campaign for an Endowment Fund. Having welcomed its 10 millionth visitor in April 2025, Baltic is looking to the future with an ambitious initiative to fundraise a £10 million Endowment Fund.
Championing Baltic as a beacon of creativity, Wallsend-born Sting has generously donated to Baltic to launch the Endowment Fund.
As the Most Visited Free Cultural Venue in the North East (VisitBritain), the annual investment income from the Fund will combat the ongoing challenge of rising costs that threaten free entry in a region where a third of children grow up in poverty. Annually, Baltic engages 183,000 children and young people through activities and programmes that enhance their confidence, skills, and wellbeing. The Endowment will safeguard this crucial activity and creative futures on Tyneside by sustaining free access to Baltic’s exhibitions, its iconic building, and creative learning and community programmes, year on year.
A 17-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter with an illustrious career in songwriting spanning five decades, Sting, managed by Martin Kierszenbaum/Cherrytree Music Company, will also give an exclusive music performance and Q&A at Baltic’s flagship Fundraising Gala on 30 October 2025 to an audience of philanthropists and patrons of the arts, to further support the initiative.
“For me this is about legacy. The culture of the North East made me who I am, and I am proud of those roots. I want to acknowledge how lucky I have been and pay that debt back. Giving to Baltic is a way of saying Thank You and ensuring that the next generation of young people on Tyneside have access to arts and culture.
“I’m hoping that my donation to Baltic’s Endowment Fund will encourage others to give. We need to do everything we can to safeguard public funding through the Arts Council and bolster philanthropic giving. This is about investing in the future of the North East. It’s about unleashing the creativity of children and young people so they can dream and think big”.
Sting
Baltic’s Fundraising Gala will also stage an auction of unique experiences, and art works donated by internationally renowned artists Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor and Cornelia Parker. Celebrated South Tyneside-born singer/songwriter Nadine Shah is confirmed to open the Gala’s proceedings.
“We are incredibly grateful to Sting for his generous donation which is a major step in establishing a crucially needed £10 million Endowment. We are a much-loved gallery, welcoming 400,000 visitors through our doors each year, platforming artists, connecting communities and inspiring children and young people. We need to preserve this for generations to come.
“Sting’s donation, and his performance at our Fundraising Gala will enable Baltic to leverage further support from donors and stakeholders. The Fund is key in our long-term strategy to protect Baltic’s sustainability and future success. We look forward to creating a memorable experience with Sting and Nadine Shah for our guests at the Gala on 30 October.”
Baltic Director, Sarah Munro
For more information on Baltic Endowment Fund and secure tables or sponsorship at the Gala Dinner visit baltic.art/endowment
About
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is a major international centre for art situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, England. It has welcomed over 10 million visitors since opening in July 2002. Baltic presents a distinctive and ambitious programme of temporary exhibitions and events and is a world leader in the presentation and commissioning of contemporary visual art.
Housed in a landmark ex-industrial building, Baltic houses 2,600 square metres of art space, making it one of Europe’s largest dedicated contemporary art institutions. Baltic has presented the work of over 877 artists of 78 nationalities in over 300 exhibitions to date including Joy Labinjo, Hew Locke, Heather Phillipson, Antony Gormley, Cornelia Parker, Daniel Buren, Lubaina Himid, Steve McQueen, Jenny Holzer, Judy Chicago, Lorna Simpson, Imran Peretta, Huma Bhahba and John Akomfrah.
In Sting’s distinguished career, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has received 17 GRAMMY Awards® and sold 100 million albums worldwide from his combined work as one of the most distinctive solo artists in the world and former front man/bassist of The Police. A composer, singer-songwriter, actor, author and activist, Sting also has eight Ivor Novello Awards, including the prestigious Ivors Academy Fellowship, five BRIT Awards, 28 BMI Awards, earned a Golden Globe, four Oscar nominations, a Tony nomination, Billboard Magazine’s Century Award and Kennedy Center Honors.
In 2006, Newcastle University awarded Sting an honorary Doctorate in Music, recognising his achievements in songwriting.
In 2023, Sting was granted the Freedom of the Borough by North Tyneside Council, honoring the cultural impact of his work and connection to the region.
Sting’s support for human rights organizations such as the Rainforest Fund, Amnesty International, and Live Aid mirrors his art in its universal outreach. Along with wife Trudie Styler, Sting founded the Rainforest Fund in 1989 to protect both the world’s rainforests and the indigenous people living there.
Sting is currently on an acclaimed world tour with power trio, STING 3.0. The STING 3.0 Tour represents a new dynamic era showcasing selections from his vast catalog through the urgent lens of a tight three-piece combo and produced his latest album, STING 3.0 Live, recorded along the tour.
STING 3.0 will play major UK festivals and outdoor concerts this Summer, including headlining the Isle of Wight Festival and Latitude, before landing back in the UK in October for intimate, sold-out shows at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town and Eventim Apollo. STING 3.0 full tour itinerary can be found here.
