A STALYBRIDGE art gallery is putting on a show as the town becomes a creative hub – with the hope it can inspire.
The People’s Gallery sits on Melbourne Street, next to the River Tame, and has been part of the landscape for more than 20 years.
But as Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre brings The Den to the nearby Civic Hall, it will be pushing itself as it shows the work of Jim Fidler.
A retrospective display of the Tameside teacher’s work will dominate the Melbourne Street gallery.
Jim taught both art and religious education at Dukinfield’s Astley Girls’ Grammar, Denton’s Egerton Park and Stalybridge’s Trinity School.
He refused to use photographs as the basis of his work, believing they were inadequate two-dimensional representations compared to the three dimensions of the naked eye.
A preview evening on Friday, May 9 will allow people to see the talents for themselves.
And Gordon Clegg, of The People’s Gallery, hopes it will both inspire others as well raise awareness of what is on the doorstep.
@ggc_media Tucked away on Melbourne Street, Stalybridge, The People’s Gallery is a hidden gem with a powerful purpose. Founded by local talents John Kimpton and Chris Cyprus, this creative space turns blank walls into a platform for artists of all levels to showcase their work – no judgement, no barriers, just pure expression. We popped in for a closer look and loved what we saw. A full feature is coming soon, but for now, here’s a sneak peek into a gallery where everyone has a voice. #stalybridge #tameside #artgallery ♬ original sound – GGC Media
He said of the exhibition: “Jim’s wife brought a fantastic piece of artwork in for us to frame.
“It blew me away. It was that good. I thought, ‘Boody hell, that’s amazing,’
“We went to see his widow and she showed us all his paintings, which were absolutely stunning.
“So we had like a bit of a chat, because we haven’t really got the space to put a one-man show on here.
“We used to do it quite a lot and we thought, ‘This guy’s that good. We’re going to do it to run concurrently with The Den.
“And we’ll have a presence outside where we’ll be handing leaflets out to point people towards the gallery.”
After moving things around, Jim’s one-man show is at The People’s Gallery, which is open especially from 6pm until 8pm on Friday, May 9 and will be there until June 8.
But Gordon hopes seeing the wonder of his creations can inspire more people in the area to get involved with art.
The People’s Gallery, which hosts several workshops and demonstrations, was founded by artists John Kimpton and Chris Cypress, originally in another building.
After attracting others who showed their work, its reputation grew and it operates as a co-operative – now to grow it even more.
Gordon, who counts some famous faces among subjects he has painted – actor Ricky Tomlinson particularly – added: “Hopefully it’ll introduce a lot more people to The People’s Gallery. Nobody knows it’s here, not even many in Stalybridge as art isn’t high in people’s thoughts.
“We don’t judge the work. Only that we don’t want it to be offensive and we’re now more of an arts centre – that’s why we call it the Bridge Arts Centre and the gallery’s inside.
“We have to spend a lot of money to exist as we get no funding from anywhere, we never have had.
“There’s a separate picture framing business, Black Star Framing, in it, a stained glass window artist who pays rent to display his work and a textile artist, who has a wall and a corner with a sewing machine, she works here.
“The rental income comes, and we also take commission on stuff sold, 30 per cent, is just enough to keep us going from week to week.
“We’re all volunteers. We survive because nobody takes anything out of it, financially. We never take a penny out.”
*THE PREVIEW evening for Jim Fidler’s retrospective exhibition is on Friday, May 9, starting at 6pm, at The People’s Gallery on Melbourne Street in Stalybridge.
Saturday, May 10 will also see representatives of the Royal British Legion and Friends of Stalybridge War Memorial to receive a special painting that will be sold off to raise funds for the latter’s bid to add missing victims’ names to the town’s display.