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Art in Guernsey will get a huge boost next year with the opening of a new “game-changing” art gallery with around 8,000 square feet of floor space.
The gallery will be over two floors in traditional stone buildings at the junction of Mansell Street and Contree Croix Mansell.
Art for Guernsey – the charity behind the plans – hopes the gallery will be “a key catalyst to help rejuvenate the Old Quarter of St. Peter Port” as well allowing its team “to bring over more visiting artists and scholars, support more local art projects and host many more workshops, lectures, events and exhibitions”.
The project is backed by generous benefactors who have purchased the space and leased it back to Art for Guernsey on a non-commercial basis for a minimum of 15 years.
The fit-out phase should start early in February and the gallery is expected to open late next summer with the much-anticipated exhibition ‘A Renaissance of Victor Hugo’.
Pictured: Art for Guernsey expects to host an official opening of its new gallery in late summer 2022 and to mark the opening with the exhibition 'A Renaissance of Victor Hugo', featuring the works of Daniel Hosego and Oleg Mikhailov in response to inspiration provided by Victor Hugo's residence in Guernsey and in particular his novel 'Toilers of the Sea'.
Art for Guernsey was founded five years ago by art collector and Guernsey resident David Ummels.
“Finding a home for Art for Guernsey has been a key priority for years and we are absolutely delighted to now call home this wonderful gallery at the very heart of the Old Quarter,” said Mr Ummels.
“This space will be a key asset for the visual arts in Guernsey and also a very welcoming creative platform for the community and a key educational asset for us to accelerate our engagements with local schools and provide local art students with the environment that they need to thrive.
“It is a well-documented fact that art galleries and artists are a key ingredient to help rejuvenate run-down areas. The latest examples in London are Hackney, Peckham and Woolwich. We certainly have the wider ambition to help bring life back to the Old Quarter.”
Pictured: Art for Guernsey's new gallery will cover a floor area of around 8,000 square feet in the Old Quarter of St. Peter Port.
Art for Guernsey said: "[We have] a strong remit to bring art where it is most needed, to inspire people and try to make them happy…this is a unique opportunity to deliver a much-needed and long-awaited asset for the island, which is desperately short of inspiring curating, workshop and meeting space.
“Art for Guernsey has an exciting vision for the future and the gallery will help the charity to continue with its entrepreneurial and not-for-profit approach where revenues are reinvested into more activities, projects and exhibitions for the island.
"The space will be truly inclusive - a space where tolerance and freedom of speech are paramount, and accessible to all.
“Local artists and students will find a place in which to think and create with a workshop infrastructure that will provide access to art materials and machinery.
“Art for Guernsey is keen to expand its collaboration with schools and encourage young people to be bold and believe in their talents with a dedicated area for schools as an extension of their classrooms, incorporating a space permanently curating children’s art."
Pictured: Art for Guernsey said its new gallery would be a place of "tolerance and freedom of speech".
“The gallery will also allow Art for Guernsey to accelerate the development of its inspiring and very successful artist-in-residence programme with international artists.
“The fully-accessible environment will include ramps, an elevator and other professional recommendations from the Disability Alliance. Features will include a welcoming curating space to provide a real wow factor at the entrance of the gallery, a café-style area which members can use for their meetings and a gallery space where events and exhibitions will be hosted.
“There will also be an art library, suited to educational and social activities or quiet reading, which can be turned into a hospitality environment for bespoke community or corporate events. A strong room will be used to display highly-valued artworks and to provide virtual reality experiences such as museum visits or art creation.
“A children’s workshop and gallery will be specifically dedicated to local children and schools for presentations, meetings, creative projects, lectures and workshops, with year-round curation of their work.
“Art for Guernsey has also identified an education gap between secondary schools’ provision and further education, which it intends to bridge by establishing the AFG Academy, allowing students to make use of art materials and equipment and to acquire skills and confidence of expression, helping them to prepare for art schools or a career in the creative sector.”
The project's benefactors and sponsors include StudiO Architecture & Design, Hiscox Insurance Company and the Sarah Groves Foundation.
Credit: Pictures provided by Art for Guernsey to mark the announcement of its new gallery in St. Peter Port's Old Quarter.
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