FROME’S second Pop Up Gallery opening event has been hailed as a success by organisers.
The gallery launched to a ‘packed out’ crowd on Monday 8th of August at the Old Church School.
Tristan Stevens from POP gallery said, “Pop 2.0 was very well received with a huge turnout for the opening launch. The idea behind Pop Up is to utilise a space for an exhibition event as temporary location for a gallery.
“The first time round we took over an empty shop for a month on Catherine Hill. After the success of that show with over 500 visitors, everyone was asking when and where the next one would be. This time round we were invited by The Old Church School, a Forward Space work hub to visualise an exhibition to coincide with their business festival; Old School Start Ups. Knowing the environment and space we immediately thought that this could be a great location for a Pop Up Show.
“It was a huge success with a turnout of over 200 people. We had rave reviews from visitors seeing the work selected, from very strong artists who each had a very different message to project.
“The work on show was from very talented artists and designers, a myriad of makers who each had varied disciplines, from jewellery to skilled model carpentry, photography, drawing and painting to paper cut out art. Each one having a very poignant concept. Personal feedback was very positive with comments about how great it is to be able to see highly finalised and wonderfully executed pieces at one time.
“A pop up gallery is a fantastic model for generating art shows in a community such as Frome. In the current climate, it is difficult to find a permanent building that could generate revenue to become a successful venture. The pop up concept tries to bypass a lot of the paperwork and finances it takes to create an exhibition. What we feel is important is to give the opportunity for new as well as established local artists to exhibit their work. Exposure is key to being an artist, art is there to be looked at so this is what the Pop Up Gallery is really about. Pop Up Gallery may or may not return, it may come up in another guise. Who knows, watch this space!”
POP gallery is exhibiting at The Old Church School until 4th September on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10am-5pm.
