Beach Of Dreams – Stronger Shores

May 23rd 2025

A national celebration of the coastlines, coves and shores of our island nation and an opportunity to dive into the heritage, culture and ecosystems of the wild and spectacular north east coast.

The Beach of Dreams project brings together coastal communities from all corners of the UK, reflecting their unique beauty and inspiring a brighter future through a nationwide programme of art and creativity.

Proud of our north east roots and passionate about forging a sustainable future- we were privileged to join local artists and the Stronger Shore project in their celebration of our beaches. Our team at Statex used innovative and environmentally conscious printing practices to help bring the natural beauty of the northern coast to the surface in an unforgettable, coastal art installation.

A Coastal Story – From Shore To Shore

A nationwide coastal arts festival, running from the 1st May to the 1st June – Beach of Dreams connects the shores Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland with a creative programme of outdoor events, celebrating and reimagining the culture, heritage and future of the UK’s coastal landscapes.

Local communities up and down the country were invited to capture the essence of their local coastline through creativity, from soundscapes and dance to sculpture and textiles. At the centre is Kinetic’s evolving artwork, The Beach of Dreams Silks – hundreds of naturally dyed silk pennants, each telling a personal story and weaving together a collective vision for a sustainable future.

Beyond The Water’s Edge

Sandhaven Beach in South Shields, just a skimmed stone from our headquarters in Newcastle, was the location for the north east’s Beach of Dreams event. Stronger Shores, a Coastal Resilience Innovation programme, spearheaded the celebration – bringing together local community groups and artists to raise awareness of miraculous habitats lying just beyond the water’s edge.

Vital to the fight against flooding and coastal erosion – seagrass meadows, kelp forests and oyster reefs can help reduce erosion, stabilise shorelines and support wildlife. The celebration on 11th May featured 600 Beach of Dreams flags, including 7 designed by a trio of local community groups alongside an outdoor art exhibition created to shed light on these unique coastal ecosystems.

Song Of The Oyster Reef

Visitors to Sandhaven Beach were invited to discover the power of nature through an outdoor photography installation from photographer Tessa Bunney and writer Stevie Ronnie. ‘The Song Of The Oyster Reef’ paired breathtaking images of underwater worlds alongside original creative writing, printed onto a banner that flowed along the beachfront.

Our team at Statex explored a variety of approaches to this unique project, which required beautiful, high-resolution photographs to be printed in perfect detail onto one, continuous 25 metre banner.

The artwork was printed using our state-of-the-art large format presses, producing a crisp and clear result – printed onto PVC-free Mesh to reflect and continue the eco-conscious ethos of the art.

Our team also worked with the artists to tun the Song Of The Oyster Reef into a beautifully crafted booklet. Both the cover and inner were printed onto materials made using 100% recycled fibres to create a natural, tactile booklet printed and bound inline using our new Ricoh press and Plockmatic technology.

“The service, along with the quality of the print, has been excellent throughout and a lot of that has been down to you and your willingness to go that extra mile.” – Stevie Ronnie

A Brighter Future

The exhibition banner and booklet were printed using environmentally-friendly practices – both because of the nature of the artwork and because every piece of print we produce is created in the most sustainable way possible.

At Statex we’re committed to creating a brighter future and carefully consider every aspect of our printing service to reduce our impact on the environment.

We’re proud to be a member of the ISO 14000 family, only working with other environmentally regulated suppliers to create a closed eco-system of compliance. By recycling paper, plates and pallets from the presses we’ve reduced our landfill waste to just 1% annually. And by investing in the latest, green printing presses and plate processing technology, our chemical and water usage has dropped dramatically, as has our carbon footprint. When it comes to materials we use a chain of custody managed and certified sources to purchase and use wood and paper.

We were particularly proud to do our bit to celebrate and preserve the beautiful north east coastline with the Beach of Dreams – Stronger Shores art installation. For more information on our environmental commitment and sustainable printing options – get in touch with our team today.