Hidden Art Exhibition
Well, our exhibition, The Hidden Art of Barnsley, is over.
It took 2 weeks of supreme effort from the staff at the Gallery and our volunteers but it was well worthwhile. We opened on a rainy Saturday 7th June 2014 and we ran until Saturday 30th August. As well as our artworks, there were lots of folders with additional information, for those who needed more background to the artists and their works. There were also activities for children as they walked around our exhibition.
A screen showed a digital representation of Gawber Hall and Glasshouse, created by the talented students at Barnsley College on the BTEC Extended Diploma in Games Design Level 3 course. Did you know that glass was manufactured at Gawber in the 18th Century? Our film, showing imaginary scenes in the lives of some of our artists’, was displayed on another screen. The third screen showed the wonderful short films about children working in Barnsley industries and dreaming of becoming artists. These were written and performed by Barnsley pupils attending KidzRLoud at Horizon Community College during the holidays. We also had an iPad with a rolling display from sketchbooks of 3 of our artists.
On Monday 9th June we held our information evening at the Gallery and were delighted with the number of people who accepted our invitation. We took the opportunity to thank all those who had supported our project and to give the prizes for winners of our competitions.
We’ve been happy, too, to welcome relatives of our artists and also some of the generous people who have loaned us their paintings and other artefacts. Our visitors have been pleased that the exhibition shows our artists in relation to their Barnsley heritage and the industries that shaped it. We had more than 3000 visitors and there was a real buzz about the gallery. On most days, one of our volunteer researchers was on hand to answer any questions from visitors. The stories of the travels Thomas Witlam Atkinson and his wife Lucy through Siberia fascinated children and adults alike. They were brought to life by our storyteller. Helen Sant, dressed as Lucy to relate their adventures.
A last minute addition to the exhibition came in the form of an agreement with St Mary’s Church. We were very grateful to be able to use the church to display works created by Barnsley Adult and Family Learning Service. They worked with local adults and children who were inspired by the work of our artists to produce some wonderful artwork of their own. We were able to extend this part of the exhibition to the end of September, a month beyond our main exhibition in the Cooper Gallery.
As our exhibition finished, we had to arrange to return all our artwork to our lenders. Fortunately this all went smoothly but we were sad to see them dispersed. We could not have done it all without the installation skills and constant support of the staff in the gallery.
See our Exhibition Leaflet (PDF) >>
Exhibition In St Mary’s Church