The Witham has become a hotbed in the North-East for visual contemporary art that is available free of charge to the residents of Barnard Castle and beyond.
The gallery, founded in 1846 as a Mechanics’ Institute and People’s Dispensary, has developed in recent years into an arts gallery and arts entertainment centre that the town can be proud of.
Their latest exhibition, “We need to talk about landscape,” is a collection of work by five artists: Jill Campbell, Richard Grey, Jo York, Susan Dugdale and Keith Alexander who all specialise in making works about the landscape of our region.
When the famous landscape artist Joseph Turner first visited the region in 1797, he left an imprint on the area, and it is clear to see he has been an inspiration to some of the work on show today.
With landscape the theme of the exhibition, this has been taken on in different stances from the artists.
Ranging from Jill Campbell’s semi abstract approach to Susan Dugdale’s colourful collages.
Curator of the exhibition Keith Alexander said: “We need to support The Witham in its attempts to put on quality visual art exhibitions, in financially testing times for the arts.”
“The people of Teesdale deserve to be able to see shows that make them think and see the world differently.”
“In The Witham they can do that for free.”
In recent times the £2.3m Witham and Library Development Project, managed by Barnard Castle Vision, Durham County Council and The Witham Hall Ltd, has seen the refurbishment of the Grade II listed building.
“We’re in a time when the arts can sometimes not be seen as a priority, so places like The Witham are vital for communities and they encourage the next generation to get involved and be inspired.”
As well as the gallery, The Witham in recent times has also hosted comedians Chris and Rosie Ramsey and later this month multi-award-winning comedian Mark Nelson will perform for the Barnard Castle crowd.
With the nearest large contemporary art gallery offering free admission being MIMA in Middlesbrough, the town is blessed to have such a facility on its doorstep.
