Visitor numbers at the newly opened Kirkcudbright Art Galleries have been nearly as impressive as the exhibitions themselves. The £3.1m refurbishment of the Victorian Town Hall building has received universal acclaim from those visiting over the first period.
As well as enabling the Council to open up its nationally recognised Kirkcudbright Artists collection to a much wider public view, the Galleries have hosted a stunning exhibition of contemporary Scottish work from WASPS galleries and workshops across the country, and the iconic The Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer (on loan from National Galleries Scotland) which has helped to boost numbers even further. There have been a number of associated talks and workshops held in the new Mezzanine Gallery. Both Saturdays so far have seen nearly 1,000 people coming through the distinctive new decorative metal doors of the gallery, with more than 3,700 in total in the first week. Figures for the second week, so far, have been nearly as impressive, again topping 3,700. The good weather at the weekend doesn’t seem to have kept visitors at the beach, with more than 700 people through the doors on both Saturday and Sunday. Communities Committee Chairman Andy Ferguson commented:
“I’m delighted that the hard work of our staff, contractors and volunteers has been rewarded with the enthusiastic participation of visitors to the gallery, many of whom have come from a distance to see the fruition of this project. This is only the beginning for Kirkcudbright Galleries and I am sure that our visitor numbers will continue at a high level with our forthcoming exhibitions of Scotland’s Early Silver on loan from National Museums Scotland and Stars of Scotland which will feature some very significant art works on loan from galleries and private collections across Scotland”.
Committee Vice Chair John Martin added:
“It’s also brilliant to see children getting involved in the new gallery and the clay working workshops in the Mezzanine at the weekend seem to have been an enormous success. Inspiring the next generation of artists and art lovers is a key objective of our Museums and Arts service, and the new Kirkcudbright Galleries can be a major contributor to this”.
Local primary schools have attended storytelling and clay workshops, focusing on Landseer’s painting The Monarch of the Glen which was on short term loan from the National Galleries of Scotland to Kirkcudbright Galleries. Similar drop-in workshops for families were also available to the public, with everyone joining in the fun making small animal sculptures.
The fun doesn’t end now that The Monarch of the Glen has left Kirkcudbright Galleries. The Art Adventurers sessions will be starting each Wednesday from 4 July until 12 September. Adults and older teens can also be on the lookout for the creative mark making drawing sessions and also the creative writing sessions, which also start in July.
Full details of the Kirkcudbright Galleries programme of activities and exhibitions can be found at https://www.kirkcudbrightgalleries.org.uk/ and on their Facebook page.
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