Gallery Town relaunch brings 25 new works of art to town centre

TWENTY-five new works of art went on display around the streets of Rotherham this week as the Gallery Town open-air collection was “refreshed”.

The relaunch of the public art project also saw artists gathering for a workshop at the Old Market Gallery, while guests were invited to have their portrait drawn by students from Wingfield Hub and Rotherham College in return for a small donation.

Project manager Ged Omar (pictured) said: “There was a fantastic attendance, showing that there is a huge amount of support for positive projects and actions in Rotherham.

“The amount of businesses, organisations, press and academic establishments represented is an indication of how wide reaching the project is.”

Since Gallery Town was launched two years ago, reproductions of classic works of art and new creations by local artists and students have been displayed on the higher storeys of buildings and on ground-level panels.

Tuesday’s event marked the rebranding of the project and follows the launch two weeks ago of Welcome to Gallery Town at Rotherham Central station.

Guests on the day included Rotherham artist Pollyanna Pickering, wing-walker Nigel Hague, father of the former Tory party leader state William Hague, Man of Steel sculptor Steve Medhi and Chamber of Commerce chief Andrew Denniff.

New additions to the open-air collection include large scale installations of Johannes Vermeer's The Girl with a Pearl Earring, Edvard Munch’s Scream and Soft Pressure by Kandinsky, as well as those by Pollyanna Pickering, Nepalese artist Manish Harijan and acclaimed French artist Jean-Mark Janyzciak.