I’VE been reflecting this week on how, as we grow older, we become increasingly resistant to change, and perhaps we could learn a thing or two from our children and grandchildren. Of course, it’s the same for every generation, but the pace of change in modern life can leave some of us scurrying back to the apparent safety of our comfort zones.

Not so the young, however. They thrive on change, they embrace it and they positively look forward to it, because it’s what helps them to develop and define themselves in the world.

I’ve learned a great deal from my two granddaughters, Daisy and Nel, who are three and four, and I’m learning to see the world in general – and Middlesbrough in particular – through their eyes.

Take mima as a prime example. For a town like Middlesbrough, with a proud industrial heritage built on iron, steel and chemicals but now struggling with the sort of deeprooted social deprivation that comes with industrial decline, a modern art gallery might seem a little out of place.

But it is a powerful symbol of the fact that Middlesbrough is moving on from the past and modernising, and has clear aspirations for what it wants to be in the future.

The Arts Council saw the potential and has been a partner from the outset. There’s no doubt that if Middlesbrough hadn’t seized the opportunity, our world class gallery would simply have been built somewhere else.

The TV historian John Grundy put it very well not so long ago when he pointed to the architectural link between Middlesbrough’s history in Acklam Hall and its future in mima.

His exact words bear repeating: “If you come from a town that hasn’t got a great long history of cathedrals and castles and things, you need buildings like this, buildings that show you’ve arrived – more importantly buildings that show you’ve got a future.”

It’s not by accident that mima sits next door to our fantastic Carnegie Central Library which celebrated its centenary last year. My granddaughters may express it slightly differently, but the simple fact is that mima is one of the places in town they most look forward to visiting; where they mix with other young people from all sorts of backgrounds, from Middlesbrough and far beyond.

We were going through Newcastle Airport a few weeks ago when Nel pointed to a big poster advertising mima and shouted at the top of her voice: “Look – mima.”

They’ve embraced it because it’s part of their education and part of their lives. Books and libraries will always be crucial, but their enthusiasm tells me that, for a younger generation, art will also play a very important role. I’m no art guru and I can’t say I like, or even understand, everything that’s on display at mima, but I’m willing to learn.

I’ll freely admit I had barely heard of William Tillyer, but I know a lot more now and realise that this son of a Middlesbrough hardware store owner is an artist of international renown. A major retrospective of his work opened at mima yesterday, and it’s a source of considerable pride for the town that pieces that have been shown around the world are now on display here.

The next time you visit Middlesbrough, try to look at it through the eyes of a child, without the prejudices of the past or the fear of change – you may just be surprised.

  • The William Tillyer retrospective Against