RESIDENTS have transformed a small part of their town into an open-air art gallery.

The At Home I'm a Tourist exhibition is being held in Jackson Street, Gateshead town centre, marking the culmination of a project involving 50 people.

Working with community artist David Goard the amateur artists have designed a series of seven billboards that represent their own personal thoughts and feelings of the borough.

Residents aged up to 80 were invited to travel around the borough, collecting digital images of anything they found interesting. They were also encouraged to gather ideas from people to devise a phrase to go alongside the images.

Among the billboards is one that shows a montage of a 21st Century digital version of a 10th Century Chinese painting, while another depicts Victorian tightrope walker Charles Blondin, who was famous for crossing Niagara Falls.

Councillor John McElroy, of Gateshead Borough Council, said: "This is a significant project as it has enabled people of all abilities to express themselves through art and learn more about the skills needed."