City Guides
York
Art Galleries
York Art Gallery houses collections of oil and canvas artwork, watercolours and ceramics, some of which are up to six hundred years old.
The gallery opened its doors to the public in 1879, and currently displays its exhibits in six themed areas, spread out over the building’s two floors. The areas are ‘Morality’ – home to works exploring the moral messages built into much seventeenth-century art; ‘Devotion’ – an exploration of Christian art, including fifteenth-century works; ‘Places’ presents nineteenth- and twentieth-century art representing Man’s relationship with nature and the pastoral world; ‘People’ includes four hundred years of artistic representation of human beings; ‘Stories’ explores the nineteenth-century fashion of using visual art to tell stories; and ‘Modern Aproaches’ represents twentieth-century rejections of traditional approaches to art. Special exhibitions are displayed in the main ground-floor gallery.
The Studio, on the ground floor, is used for educational workshops and talks and family events organised during the summer. The venue is available to hire for private functions. Admission is free and the gallery is open seven days a week, from 10am until 5pm. Call Ms Janet Hewison on 01904 678 687 for more information.
York St Mary’s is another art venue managed by the York Museums Trust. The medieval church has the tallest spire in York. It is known that it existed in the thirteenth-century, but it is believed that it could have been built up to two hundred years before. The church was desanctified in 1958 and kept as a heritage centre until 2001. The York Museums Trust bought the church and opened it to the public as an arts venue in 2004.
Each year a different artist is commissioned to develop an art installation for the venue and to base the work upon the building itself. There is a wonderful two-way effect of this project, in that the building – and more specifically, the part of the building in which the installation is to be housed – inspires the work, and yet each new piece of work alters the ambience of the ancient building.
The first installation was an exploration of light, entitled A Light Crescendo, which was intended to create connections between the unusual natural light of the medieval building and the neon, highly coloured or reflective surfaces and glass of the installation. The 2007 installation will be created by Japanese artist, Keiko Mukaide, and explore the link between the viewer, the artist and the natural world.
The Artspace is a studio and art gallery on Tower Street, providing space for workshops and individual art development. Current and previous tenants of the studio space have explored or taught jewellery making, life drawing, canvas painting and children’s art. A variety of exhibitions are displayed in the gallery, and these are changed every six weeks.
The gift shop offers an extensive range of unique gifts, books, jewellery, bags and original artwork, with an online shop planned for later this year. There is also an on-site café, serving a range of Continental coffees. The venue is available to hire for children’s parties and other private events. Call Greg McGee on 01904 671709 or 07973 653 702.
The gallery opened its doors to the public in 1879, and currently displays its exhibits in six themed areas, spread out over the building’s two floors. The areas are ‘Morality’ – home to works exploring the moral messages built into much seventeenth-century art; ‘Devotion’ – an exploration of Christian art, including fifteenth-century works; ‘Places’ presents nineteenth- and twentieth-century art representing Man’s relationship with nature and the pastoral world; ‘People’ includes four hundred years of artistic representation of human beings; ‘Stories’ explores the nineteenth-century fashion of using visual art to tell stories; and ‘Modern Aproaches’ represents twentieth-century rejections of traditional approaches to art. Special exhibitions are displayed in the main ground-floor gallery.
The Studio, on the ground floor, is used for educational workshops and talks and family events organised during the summer. The venue is available to hire for private functions. Admission is free and the gallery is open seven days a week, from 10am until 5pm. Call Ms Janet Hewison on 01904 678 687 for more information.
York St Mary’s is another art venue managed by the York Museums Trust. The medieval church has the tallest spire in York. It is known that it existed in the thirteenth-century, but it is believed that it could have been built up to two hundred years before. The church was desanctified in 1958 and kept as a heritage centre until 2001. The York Museums Trust bought the church and opened it to the public as an arts venue in 2004.
Each year a different artist is commissioned to develop an art installation for the venue and to base the work upon the building itself. There is a wonderful two-way effect of this project, in that the building – and more specifically, the part of the building in which the installation is to be housed – inspires the work, and yet each new piece of work alters the ambience of the ancient building.
The first installation was an exploration of light, entitled A Light Crescendo, which was intended to create connections between the unusual natural light of the medieval building and the neon, highly coloured or reflective surfaces and glass of the installation. The 2007 installation will be created by Japanese artist, Keiko Mukaide, and explore the link between the viewer, the artist and the natural world.
The Artspace is a studio and art gallery on Tower Street, providing space for workshops and individual art development. Current and previous tenants of the studio space have explored or taught jewellery making, life drawing, canvas painting and children’s art. A variety of exhibitions are displayed in the gallery, and these are changed every six weeks.
The gift shop offers an extensive range of unique gifts, books, jewellery, bags and original artwork, with an online shop planned for later this year. There is also an on-site café, serving a range of Continental coffees. The venue is available to hire for children’s parties and other private events. Call Greg McGee on 01904 671709 or 07973 653 702.
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