Visual arts report with Pat Douglas – August 2020

1. Well House Gallery: Paul Alcock speaks about painting in the street beside the gallery

1a. Well House Gallery update and new exhibition
10th August – 4^th September Paul Alcock part 2 Lisa Anderson

https://www.facebook.com/pg/wellhousegallery/
https://wellhousegallery.co.uk/
To see more of Paul’s paintings: https://paulalcock.co.uk/gallery/

2. Eastgate Gallery Patricia Douglas

Eastgate Gallery opened on 1^st July and Patricia spoke to one of the Eastgate artists, Irene Butcher. She said a lot of the artists won’t be coming back until September because they have underlying health problems so they’re a bit apprehensive about coming back just yet. They no longer open on a Sunday and those artists who did their shift at the gallery on Sunday now work during the week instead. Two Eastgate artists work at the hospital so because of the risks of transmitting Covid 19 they have been asked not to work at the gallery for the foreseeable future. The gallery staff have put measures in place to keep everyone safe. Visitors to the gallery will find hand sanitiser at the door of both parts of the gallery for the public and staff to use and all staff wear masks when on duty. The public of course have to wear a mask before coming into the gallery. Staff use sanitiser spray and wipes in the gallery to clean the furniture and fittings regularly.
Irene Butcher’s work is featured in the main window at the moment until Tuesday 4^th August and then Roger Davis will be featured from Wednesday. In the ‘Cow’ gallery, Sue Barnfield will be the featured artist for the whole of August. Each artist is featured in rotation throughout the year; their work is also shown inside the gallery when not featured. Irene said they’re all very glad to be back. Even though the footfall has been lower since they’ve re-opened, they’re delighted to be able to interact with other artists again after lockdown. During lockdown most of the artists were painting so the lockdown was an excellent opportunity for their creativity and there will be lots of new work to see. The gallery was closed on 1^st August as the lease expired on 31^st July. The good news is that the new lease begins on Monday so the gallery will be open as usual.

3. News items: Patricia Douglas

All the major galleries in London have now re-opened so if you’d like to visit please look at their websites for the details.