the exhibition, Chicago was in her 80s. Hannah Clugston of The Guardian noted that the more recent featured works embraced the theme of death, particularly End: A Meditation on Death and Extinction, which is based on the stages of grief. Baltic Open Submission In March 2020, Baltic announced it would be closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic until further notice. In May 2021, it reopened to visitors with four exhibitions. Baltic Open Submission featured works created during lockdown by 158 artists from the North East. The 158 artists were chosen from over 540 original submissions and selected by a panel of three North East-based artists. The final pieces included paintings, drawings, and sound and video installations. Community and cultural impact At the opening of Baltic, director Sune Nordgren outlined the role of the arts centre within the public sphere. He stated that Baltic should be "a meeting place, a site for connections and confrontation between artists and the public." In an October 2002 lecture at the Power Plant Gallery in Toronto, Nordgren reaffirmed the importance of local outreach and explained his intention for Baltic to regard the local history and culture, comparing his intention to examples of modern art museums where this was not considered, such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (designed in Los Angeles and placed in Spain). From its inception, Baltic emphasised the importance of artist-public relationships and its role as a community hub. "Participate" initiatives encouraged people in the local community to interact with resident artists. A media learning centre in a local library was set up as an extension of Baltic's community resources. In a 2016 talk on Baltic's 10-year strategic plan (officially named Untitled), the current director of Baltic – Sarah Munro – emphasised that the North East of England "has always led, not followed" the agenda for contemporary arts, and that Baltic had been a big part of this trend. She argued that the visual arts can be used to further the economic and social growth of the area, even amidst the backdrop of political issues and austerity. Baltic also launched an international award for emerging artists in 2016, which offered a £30,000 commission and an accompanying exhibition to four recipients. It was the first such competition in the UK to be judged entirely by artists: in 2017, they were Monica Bonvicini, Lorna Simpson, Pedro Cabrita Reis and Mike Nelson. Munro commented that