On 13 July 2002, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art opened its doors to the public, and 15 years later, and with over seven million visitors and counting, it's still offering a unique art experience to everyone who visits.
That opening night saw thousands of people queuing up to see inside the newly-transformed former flour mill - with everyone up leaving with a small loaf of bread as a nod to its former use.
Rather than see the building demolished, Gateshead Council spearheaded the drive to turn the building into a major contemporary arts venue - holding an international competition to design and convert the building. And with over £30 milliion of Arts Council funding, the work began and the rest is history.
The opening exhibition featured six artists including Tatsumi Orimoto - 'the Bread Man' from Japan who led activities based around bread related topics; there were huge gongs by Spanish artists Jaume Plensa and a Meccano model of the Tyne Bridge by American artist Chris Burden.
Amazing
But the conversion and inside of the building was just as intriguing, with amazing views over the river of the Tyne Bridge and the new Gateshead Millennium Bridge - a further attraction n the ever changing quayside.
During it's time, BALTIC has celebrated the work of some amazing artists and notched up some impressive statistics.
Artists such as Antony Gormley, Yoko Ono, Beryl Cook and many more have all exhibited work there and in 2011, it hosted the Turner Prize - the first time the event was held outisde London.
More than 130,000 turned up to see the exhibiton - breaking visitor records for this event.
BALTIC director Sarah Munro, said: "We will continue to commission and produce exhibtions, performances, engagement projects and learning programmes which champion the role of artists in contemporary society."
Engaging
Council Leader, Martin Gannon added: "Gateshead has earned a natioal and international reputation for its iconic and innovative approach to the arts and BALTIC is a great example of this. I'm delighted that 15 years on, it is still providing cutting edge contemporary art experiences for visitors as weell as involving and engaging with new artists and the pbulic."
For details of all current exhibitions at BALTIC go to www.balticmill.com