Settle Gallery on the Green

Look Back in Anger

2011-04-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

Martin Shakeshaft's retrospective on the 1984 Miners' Strike counterposes striking images from the strike with recent views of the same people and places. Anger is evident in many of the comments from our visitors, reminded of the ruthless actions of Thatcher's government nearly 30 years ago.

Little Green Textiles by 4fold

2011-03-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

The new exhibition from 5th March is by 4 local artists who trained at Craven College with Teresa Savage. These artists all have very different styles of work, from machine embroidery, printing, to capturing the rusting of metal on delicate fabrics.

Stories on a postcard

2011-01-16T03:12:00.000-08:00

A new exhibition will be launched on 5th February, featuring stories written to just fill the space of a postcard. These were collected by Settle Stories (see http://www.settlestories.org.uk/) at the Settle Storytelling Festival in October 2010. Visitors to the exhibition may also write their own 'stories on a postcard'.

Winter visitors

2011-01-16T03:08:00.000-08:00

Although it is dark, cold and wet, we are still getting a steady stream of visitors. The Brian May/Elena Vidal exhibition has proved very popular and is still up for another week. We have been going through the visitors' book comments - for instance 'Very moving to catch a glimpse of daily life long ago'. The exhibition has proved quite inspirational for many people.

Brian May's 'Village Lost and Found' comes to Settle

2010-09-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

On November 4th a new exhibition will launch, featuring selections from Brian May's (ex Queen guitarist) and Elena Vidal's new book 'A Village Lost and Found'. For more information see the London Stereoscopic Company website. To coincide with the opening, Brian and Elena will give a presentation at Settle's Victoria Hall on the same day.

Rural craft villages in Vietnam

2010-09-12T01:50:00.000-07:00

From September to November 2010, we will feature work by Yorkshire-based, internationally acclaimed photographer Tessa Bunney. Tessa has travelled widely and built a reputation on her particular interest in different landscapes and how they are shaped by activity. Between September 2006 and May 2008 she spent two six month periods in Vietnam, exploring the suburbs and villages around the capital city of Hanoi. Around 75% of Vietnamese people currently live in the countryside, but as Vietnam moves towards urbanisation, the country's agricultural labour force faces the prospect of losing its land (and its way of life) to urban projects. Families are sustaining themsleves by turning increasingly to the creation of various products in rural areas. These 'craft villages' have become the meeting place between rural and urban, agriculture and industry. Tessa's vivid images capture the details of daily life with great insight.

Midnight Visions

2010-06-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Our summer exhibition features stunning photographs of moths taken using a specially developed technique by photographer Jim des Rivieres. For more information about Jim's photography, see http://www.moths.ca/.

An exhibition dedicated to the art of good humour

2010-05-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

A new exhibition opens today, 8th May, put together by curator Julie Sobczak. It not only includes cartoons by professional artists, but also offers visitors the opportunity to enter the cartoon caption competition and add their own joke, story, cartoon etc. The exhibition will run until the end of the month.

Poetry exhibition by the Word Birds

2010-04-03T03:43:00.000-07:00

The WORD BIRDS Poetry Showcase, a national women poets' network originating in Settle, are currently staging an exhibition of members' work at the Gallery on the Green. Described as 'a flock of women poets who perform UK wide, taking a bird's eye view of human relationships, the Word Birds aim to showcase women's poetry both through UK-wide readings and (from 1st July) online, giving opportunities that are otherwise hard to come by for newer poets to read alongside established ones.

The Settle exhibition will also provide a 'guest slot' for anyone who wishes to place their postcard-sized poem into the exhibition. More information can be obtained by emailing bird@thewordbirds.net.

Settle Photographers exhibit

2010-02-28T05:58:00.000-08:00

This month's exhibition features local members of the Settle Photography Group. The group formed in September 2008 and meet on the third Monday of each month in the Friends' Meeting House. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in photography - see their website for more information.

This exhibition features a range of images of local scenery, people and images that reflect the varied tastes of the contributors. It will be open until March 28th.

Winter wonderland

2010-02-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

A new exhibition went up last weekend, featuring work done by a group of amaeur artists attending a workshop run by local artists Jaki Bogg and Sue Mackay. The theme is very appropriately on views and images of winter. The artists have used a range of media, including felt, collage and textiles.

'I am proud to be'

2010-02-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

We recently exhibited a wonderful collection of cards from children of the Westminster Academy, an international business and enterprise academy. The intake is incredibly multi-cultural, multi-lingual and diverse with 89% of the students speaking English as an additional language. The exhibition was done as part of a Year 9 (13 year olds) project, with students drawing or painting an image about the country they felt associated with. Students also wrote something about themselves on the backs of the cards, making a fascinating record.

Award winning photographer Eamonn McCabe exhibits at the Gallery on the Green

2009-12-29T02:23:00.000-08:00

The Gallery on the Green's first exhibition of professional art is by the award winning photographer Eamonn McCabe, well known for his work as a sports photographer and picture editor. His natural curiosity about individuals who work alone evolved into a wide ranging series of photographs of writer's rooms that appeared each weekend in The Guardian. Eamonn selected and printed a show especially for us, including gems such as the working spaces of such eminent authors as Edna O'Brien, Rose Tremain, Clive James and our local hero Bill Bryson.

Gallery wins BT Regional Award!

2009-12-10T01:57:00.000-08:00

We are proud to report that The Gallery on the Green won the Yorkshire and Humber BT competition for adopted phone boxes. BT's area manager Mark Johnson and publicity manager Amy Walker arrived yesterday (Wednesday) with a cheque for £1000 to go to the community. Cultivating Settle Chairman Marion Armstrong, along with Curator Roger Taylor and Artistic director Mike Crompton received the cheque and thanked BT for their support. Marion thanked all the people involved in making the phone box such a success and a real credit to Settle.

More about Settle

2009-11-21T03:37:00.000-08:00

If you are thinking of visiting Settle, you might like to see more about the local area. Mark Dale of Settle Festival Ltd has made a video of some of the recent projects. It includes our new riverside walk, footage of building works at Settle Hydro (our new renewable energy station), the recent cycling festival in summer 2009 and some local volunteer work done by Cultivating Settle. The video is on YouTube and can be found at this link.

Pictures from Public Collections

2009-10-18T01:11:00.000-07:00

For October exhibition,we have teamed up with the Visual Arts Data Service (VADS), based at the University of the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey. Working collaboratively with Amy Robinson of VADs, Gallery on the Green curator Julie Sobczak has made a wide-ranging selection of images which have been specially printed for the exhibition. Drawing on the collections as diverse as the Imperial War Museum, the London College of Fashion, and Manchester Metropolitan University, the exhibition includes examples of Victorian music covers, posters of conflict, fashion photographs, woodcuts and collages.

This is the first of a series of planned exhibitions to bring work of national significance to the Gallery on the Green and we are delighted to be able to work with prestigious organisations such as VADS as extending the scope and remit of the gallery will appeal to a wide audience.VADS have been interested in the Gallery since it opened in July. Amy Robinson said ‘We really like the idea of exhibiting some of our postcard collection in a phone box. The intimacy and size really lend themselves to the medium.’

The new exhibition will open on Saturday 24^th October.

Pictures added by Dorset Camera

2009-09-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

Its wonderful to see visitors arriving from elsewhere and admiring the phone box and the gallery. A fan of the area from Dorset who is a marvellous photographer has featured the phone box on his web site -
http://www.dorsetcamera.co.uk/html/17_august_2009.html

We have now placed a guest book in the gallery and lots of comments are arriving - thankfully all good! Again, its great to see people coming to the gallery from far and wide. Art and visitors from all over the world! Not bad for so small a structure.

Cartoonist sees the funny side of the Gallery

2009-08-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

We all know how art can feed the soul - and there is plenty of wonderful art to lift our spirits in the Gallery on the Green (GOG). A recent contributor to the GOG is the cartoonist Judy Steele, who has drawn a cartoon especially for the GOG with the theme "laughter is the best medicine". Judy has been a Political Cartoonist for 27 years. Previously with the Burlington Gazette, and Burlington Spectator newspapers in Ontario, Canada, she moved to the Cayman Islands where she was political cartoonist for the Caymanian Compass Newspaper in the Cayman Islands for 12 years. Now living in Canmore, Alberta, Canada and still continuing to draw for the Cayman newspaper. Judy is an avid mountain hiker, canoeist and camper....lampooning bears, elk and cougars.

Do you see the funny side of life? Send your own cartoon, humorous post card/drawing to the gallery so we can share a giggle with you.

Telefon Corner - by Debbie Rose Van Der Bol

2009-08-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

Another international contributor to the GOG is Debbie Rose Van Der Bol, who was inspired by the GOG to paint an original watercolour 'Telefon Corner'. Debbie is a talented artist who lives and paints on the beautiful island of Grand Cayman (BWI) - where she also owns and runs her own art shop/gallery 'Pure Art'.

Debbie says " I enjoyed the charming colours in the scene of this red phone booth! The way it so belongs to this little spot is what inspired me, its intimacy, in our cell phone world of today". Thank you Debbie for your contribution.

On Line Gallery

2009-08-23T05:53:00.001-07:00

We will be changing the display at the Gallery next weekend, so have created a small on line archive of some of the current exhibtion. This can be seen on the website http://www.galleryonthegreen.org.uk/gallery.html

Calling all schools and colleges

2009-08-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

The Gallery on the Green team have had various conversations with teachers who would like to work with us to get their classes to produce a set of postcards. Some of these are from distant places (such as Leeds!) and some from inner cities, so they would also like to bring their class up on a visit. We think this is a great idea. There is lots to see in Settle and the surrounding area and we'd love to help you plan a visit that includes our Gallery. To make this easier, we've appointed an 'Education Director' for the Gallery on the Green, who can be contacted at education@galleryonthegreen.org.uk.

Our phone box on Facebook

2009-08-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

BT have a section (not sure of the technical term) on Facebook for the 'Adopt a phone box' scheme. (to find it, you have to be a member of Facebook and then do a search). Not much is there just yet, but there is a photo gallery, which includes a picture of our very own Gallery on the Green! There's also a little piece in the discussion forum which says that the Settle Gallery is 'an inspiration and we want other local communities to adopt their red kiosks and do something as amazing as this.' We think so too!

The spontaneous creativity of an eleven-year-old

2009-08-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

Eleven year old Isabel Fawcett, visiting from Ecuador, created an art work of her own this afternoon when she drew a full-sized image of the telephone box using freshly mown grass-cuttings from the green. Her original intention had been to trace the outline of a car for her younger sister, but she realised that what she had begun reminded her of the Gallery on the Green, and adapted her design accordingly.

As a finishing touch she incorporated the word TELEPHONE using cotton wool for better visibility....and all of this spontaneously and without any supervision whatsoever.

It's a pity my photographs don't fully do justice to the piece, but well done Isabel for such an imaginative interpretation.

Another gallery in a phone box

2009-07-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

Perhaps not surprisingly, since it's such a great idea, it turns out we're not the only people who thought of using a phone box as an art gallery. Local artist Teresa Crawford-Docherty converted a phone box in Halesowen into an art gallery where it has attracted lots of local attention. Her website has more information.

More about phone boxes

2009-07-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

For an interesting article about the history of phone boxes as architecture, see the English Buildings blog.

The Gallery is launched!

2009-07-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

Our opening ceremony yesterday was attended by around 70 people - more than we've ever seen at once on The Green! The picture was taken by Mark Rand and shows the Mayor of Settle, Councillor Barbara McLernon, cutting the ribbon.

A world record? Or not?

2009-07-05T02:02:00.001-07:00

We put in a claim to the Guinness Book of Records to see if we really are the smallest art gallery in the world. We've just heard back from them that they are unable to investigate our claim as they have limited resources which can only be used for the most 'interesting' and 'important' of claims. So we'll carry on with our claim and see if anyone tells us about a smaller art gallery!

A noble tradition continues

2009-06-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

The Gallery has hit the newspapers now and one kind reader sent the following interesting note:

I would like to point out that the Gallery on the Green is not the only art gallery in a building designed by Giles Gilbert Scott. Bankside Power Station, now Tate Modern, was also designed by Giles Gilbert Scott.

The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow was originally in a building designed by his grandfather, Sir George Gilbert Scott, and the Guildhall Art Gallery was designed by his son, Richard Gilbert Scott.

2009-06-27T00:54:00.000-07:00

The opening on July 11th draws closer, things are gathering pace, not least with the installation of this splendid mosaic floor designed and made by Marion. It looks just great!!

2009-06-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

Our first piece of contributed art has arrived. A drawing by 'H.Wilson' was left anonymously in the phone box. We are not quite ready, but it's great to know that there are already artists out there waiting to exhibit!

Plans are progressing well and we hope to hold the launch event in July. We now have a splendid ceiling, reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel. We just need to finish the installation with the back board and racking, plus a rather exciting floor (watch this space...)

2009-04-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

The phone box looks a lot better - still the post box to do though.

At last the grass on the Green gets cut - so the whole area now looks a lot smarter.

Lion Foundry

2009-04-27T05:06:00.000-07:00

For those of you interested in the history of the telephone box you can follow this link http://www.scottishironwork.org/lion.htm and read something about the Lion Foundry

2009-04-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

Work starts! Well done to John and Ian for giving up their spare weekend time to the refurbishment galler

Fine weather spurred work on. The box needed a lot of preparation before painting could start.

Getting started

2009-04-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

The Upper Settle residents have recently acquired responsibility for the phone box that will become the Gallery on the Green. The phone box was bought for £1 by the Town Council from BT, as part of the national 'Adopt-a-Kiosk' programme. It has been a bit neglected, so our first task is to clean it up, repaint and get it ready to be used for displaying artworks. Work started on a beautiful April Sunday afternoon, after ordering special paint from Unicorn.