As local newspaper the Northern Echo pointed out in 1998, the day after the Angel arrived on site, “The Eiffel Tower caused controversy before its construction but went on to become a symbol of the French nation.”

Nowadays there is immense local pride in how the Angel has put the region on the map, nationally and internationally. The site has also become a gathering point for events such as eclipses, pre-wedding ceremonies and on New Year’s Eve. In addition, 8,000 visitors a week – or 416,000 a year – now stop to see Britain’s biggest sculpture close-up.

Early criticisms

Although no local council taxes were spent on the sculpture, some people believed its £800,000 price tag could have been better spent on social projects, such as housing or hospitals. The funding was, though, only ever available for arts projects.

There were also concerns that the Angel’s size would distract drivers, leading to accidents, that it would interfere with TV reception, spoil views and become a target for vandals. Some people disapproved of the design.

A local campaign to stop the plan, launched in 1995, fizzled out a year later when funding was secured in April 1996. This was made up of £584,000 from the Arts Council’s Lottery Fund, £150,000 from the European Regional Development Fund, £45,000 from Northern Arts, plus sponsorship from local businesses.

Changing public opinion

Although the council admits most of the local media was “rather negative at first – almost encouraging of opposition amongst the public”– the watershed moment came when one of Angel creator Gormley’s best-known works, Field For The British Isles, was exhibited at Greenesfield BR Works in Gateshead from March-May 1996.

This mesmerising display of 40,000 miniature terracotta figures pulled in 25,000 visitors in 10 weeks, with the Northern Echo calling it “one of the most amazing works of modern art”, adding that “it augurs well for the Angel”.

By 1997, a year before the Angel was unveiled, and following a “concerted press campaign which challenged the negative views”, the local reception was “much more positive”. Almost two-thirds of people in the North East had already heard of the Angel of the North before it was built.

The national press, in contrast, had “decided almost from the beginning that the Angel was a good thing for the North”.

A PR triumph

The day after the Angel arrived on site, February 16, 1998, the Northern Echo proclaimed: “It would have been easy to let the opportunity pass and allow Lottery money to go outside the region. The national and international media coverage that the Angel will generate for the region over the next few days, weeks and years will be worth every penny of the £800,000 outlay.”

Meanwhile, the Shropshire Star was proclaiming that the Geordies “have shown the soft southerners that there’s more to the North East than brown ale, unemployment and football; that they too can appreciate the finer things in life”.

As one person wrote in the visitors’ book at an Angel documentary exhibition in Gateshead in February 2002: “It’s the first time that I’ve ever been to Gateshead and it’s the Angel that brought me here.”

Another said, “Fantastic! The only thing Gateshead needs to be ashamed of are mean-spirited complaints about the cost in an area which will happily see £15 million spent on a footballer!”