MORE than £4m is to be pumped into the region's flagship arts centre.
Over the next two years, the Baltic Arts Centre in Gateshead will receive £3m from the National Lottery.
The Arts Council will provide a further £465,000 this year, with a further £815,000 pledged for 2005-6.
The National Lottery grants will be withdrawn in 2008 and the Arts Council is expected to pick up the slack.
The first annual accounts for the Baltic Flour Mills Visual Arts Trust have just been published and show a total income of £3.2m for 2002-03.
This included £2,152,157 in grants, £127,491 in donations and £713,576 in trading income from shop sales and catering. A further £206,392 was made from sponsorship and fundraising. During the year, the Baltic spent £933,404 on arts programme expansion and £831,575 on salaries.
Since Baltic opened on July 13, 2002, it has attracted more than a million visitors
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