Bilston Craft Gallery is the largest dedicated craft venue in the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, located at Mount Pleasant, Bilston, near Bilston town centre.
[
]
Building
The two-storey stone residential house was built in 1905 as a home for the Harper family, the local lock manufacturers. It replaced a much older Regency building, Brueton House, built in 1818 by Thomas Brueton.
Between 1918–30 the house was used by Bilston Girls High School. After the school had moved to a larger building and grounds, the house was re-modelled and a large extension at the rear of the building was added. From 1937-1990s, the building housed the Bilston Art Gallery and Museum.
[
] The building also houses Bilston Library.
History
Bilston Art Gallery and Museum was officially opened in 1937 by Professor
Thomas Bodkin
Professor Thomas Patrick Bodkin (21 July 1887 – 24 April 1961) was an Irish lawyer, art historian, art collector and curator.
Bodkin was Director of the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin from 1927 to 1935 and founding Director of the ...
, the founding Director of the
Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham.
The core of the collection was formed from about hundred paintings which were donated in 1937 to the gallery by William Thompson, formerly of Bilston, but then a resident of
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. In following decades, the Gallery regularly organised exhibitions of artworks by local artists, received various gifts and donations, and built a substantial collection of local art and artefacts related to local history.
In 1990s, in the process of re-structure of cultural services across the area, the collection was transferred to Wolverhampton Art Gallery, and Bilston Museum was re-styled as Bilston Craft Gallery.
At present, it shares the building with the Bilston Library. Bilston Craft Gallery is a part of Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service.
Exhibitions
Permanent display
Bilston Craft Gallery has a permanent exhibition 'Craftsense' which showcases objects from eighteenth-century local industry alongside commissioned contemporary pieces that use similar techniques.
Almost a hundred Bilston
enamels form the main part of the display,
[
] but as part of the collection re-shuffle in the 1990s, the Bilston enamels, among other industrial and historical items, were removed to
Bantock House, causing public outcry, but were returned in 2005 with the opening of the Craftsense gallery.
Together with those remaining on show at Bantock form the largest collection of enamels apart from that of the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
.
Temporary exhibitions and education
Bilston Craft Gallery has a programme of temporary exhibitions featuring modern craft works. It offers a range of learning opportunities for all ages including the access to the Crafts Council Photostore, featuring over a thousand selected designer-makers.
The creative gallery 'Craftplay' was specially designed for pre-school children.
The 'First Floor Gallery' is a hireable community space for individuals and groups to show their own exhibitions of craft and art.
Garden
The gallery backs onto a large garden populated with various flowers. It contains several craft works, including two carved wooden dragons
by Graham Jones and a circle of stone sculptures.
References
External links
*
Bilston Craft Gallery on Twitter
{{Coord, 52.5682, -2.0717, type:landmark_region:GB-WLV, display=title
Museums in Wolverhampton
Art museums and galleries in the West Midlands (county)
Contemporary crafts museums