How it Started
A passion for Northern Art
especially art associated with our home town of Maryport, led us to building up an art collection that we believe is of interest to the wider community. An opportunity arose when our local council won grants to renovate 1 Senhouse Street and the redundant Christchurch, also on the harbour; this enabled them to plan to move the Maryport Maritime Museum [previously in 1 Senhouse Street] into the larger building of Christchurch and seek a new tenant for the old museum building.
We jumped at the opportunity and set up the Janet Dickson Community Interest Organisation to lease the building from the council to set up a community art gallery, showcasing our art collection especially the local artists Percy Kelly and William Mitchell; but also for current local artists to display and sell their paintings, hopefully developing Maryport as an artistic town.
We want the Gallery to foster artistic talent in Maryport and West Cumbria and came up with the idea of offering an arts graduate a residency in the gallery [there is a flat on the top floor]: a potential life enhancing opportunity to spend a year in our beautiful town developing their skills before staging a solo exhibition.
We invite you to join us on this exciting new voyage.
About our Gallery
How we got to where we are now
The building at 1 Senhouse Street occupies a prominent position on the harbour.
The current building has been a feature of the town since the early 19th Century before becoming a Victorian Public House, the Queens Head Inn.
When the pub ceased trading in the 1970s, local people led by Annie Robinson, teacher and JP, set up a museum of Maryport memorabilia. Allerdale Borough Council own the building and collection and acquired the funding to relocate the collection to the iconic Christchurch.
We are proud to be the latest tenants to take up lodgings in this historic building.
We are having regular site visits to our new gallery and exciting to see it take shape. Our Artist in Residence accommodation is a self contained flat in the attic. Our first floor gallery is to be a semi permanent exhibition of Cumbrian inspired art particularly Maryport. The ground floor will showcase local artists work for sale.
We’re seeking expressions of interest from local artists and delighted that we already have an artist and a photographer lined up for solo shows.
Please get in touch if you’d like to exhibit and sell here.
Work ongoing to complete our gallery proving to be a controversial choice despite being approved by English Heritage. We love it and thanks to Maryport Business Group for donating the paint.
Trustees
Brian Money
Brian was born in Zimbabwe coming to Britain to study medicine. He qualified as a GP and has lived and worked in Maryport since 1984.
He has always had a strong interest in Maryport, especially its history: consequently he has collected anything related to Maryport’s past which led him into art; a friend recommended he visit Castlegate House Gallery in Cockermouth for the first Percy Kelly exhibition, as he frequently painted in Maryport: Brian was hooked and as collected Percy Kelly paintings ever since.
The Gallery will enable a wider audience to appreciate his work and understand what has attracted artists to produce paintings of Maryport.
Hopefully, our artist-in-residence will be similarly inspired.
Dolly Money
Dorothy (Dolly) is a West Cumbrian by birth and is proud to come from a mining community. Discovering Percy Kelly led to a passion for Northern art resulting in three community arts festivals, commissioning a film about Maryport climber artist Bill Peascod and an ongoing involvement in schools projects notably a Lowry Trail of Maryport.
Steve Swallow
After an over twenty year career in finance, latterly in senior management and Board positions, the culmination of a life-long obsession with British twentieth century and contemporary art was the acquisition in 2012 of Castlegate House Gallery in Cockermouth. Now regarded as one of the foremost commercial galleries outside of London, Steve, together with wife and business partner, Christine, seeks to ensure names such as David Hockney, Frank Auerbach and Grayson Perry can regularly be seen exhibited within the gallery, and as such, the north of England.
Catherine Eve
Gallery Manager
Coming Soon
Volunteer Coordinator
Rachel
West Cumbrian born & bred, Rachel was educated in Maryport and Workington before qualifying as a teacher and spending the first ten years of her career teaching in Maryport. Rachel was introduced to William Mitchell’s work from a young age as she was present when her dad (Jim Mulgrew who was born ‘down street’), bought a Mitchell painting from a man in Millom for £5 back in 1976. The painting has been in the family ever since and is now on loan to the gallery for everyone to enjoy. Rachel is delighted to be involved with this exciting gallery project.
