Autumn Contemporary Craft Collection
New Ashgate Gallery, Waggon Yard, Farnham, www.newashgate.org.uk
link to Google map
Start date: 01-Sep-2012
End date: 10-Nov-2012
This exhibition coincides with Surrey Artist of the year exhibtion.
The New Ashgate Gallery is an educational charity that promotes contemporary visual arts and crafts to as wide a public as possible, through a programme of changing exhibitions, projects with artists, makers, projects of support and development delivered by the trust with local, regional, national and international partnerships and educational events.
Originally established as the Ashgate Gallery in 19 South Street, Farnham in the early 1960s by Elizabeth Naydler, the gallery has been based in 17th Century buildings in the Waggon Yard, Farnham since the mid 1970s. The Ashgate was established with a board of trustees who administered the profits from sales to create prizes and scholarships, and for the purchase of paintings and sculpture for local and national museums. It was the first provincial gallery to show artists with an international reputation as well as supporting local talent.
Elfriede Windsor took over as director of the Ashgate Gallery in 1974, after the retirement of its founder, Elizabeth Naydler. Elfriede closed the gallery for a year, refurbished it and reopened it as the New Ashgate Gallery. Elfriede Windsor retired in the 1990s and was succeeded by Susan Szabanowicz, Joanne Barber, Melissa Jarvis and Joanne McCarthy. The current director is Outi Remes.
In 2004, the Gallery completed a quarter-million pound redevelopment by Paul Archer design. This created a superb, light and open space gallery for changing exhibitions.
The Gallery’s principal activities are supporting art and craft practitioners through an exhibition and education programme. The New Ashgate Gallery Trust aims to be a catalyst for visual arts activity in the region; promoting, improving and advancing the arts in general and contemporary art in particular.
By providing an environment that is accessible, open and stimulating, we aim to promote awareness and knowledge of the visual arts, encourage and engage audiences, offer learning opportunities and support arts practitioners on a financial and practical level.
The Gallery is unique within the South East region in that it is a non-profit-making Charitable Trust funding its cultural and educational remit through the sale of contemporary art and craft, thus also supporting arts practitioners from across the region and throughout the UK. Any funds raised by the trust are invested in cultivating visual arts and crafts through exhibition opportunities, professional practice programmes, mentoring and partnership projects.
The exhibitions are at the heart of the Trust’s work and the Gallery is committed to running an all-year programme of contemporary fine and crafts exhibitions. Work is selected on the basis of originality and quality of design whilst balancing a wide range of art forms and media.
The Gallery shows new and challenging work by UK and international artists alongside its existing popular artists. It is committed to developing exhibition opportunities with European galleries and artists.
