34-507: The Garman Ryan Collection is a permanent collection of art works housed at The New Art Gallery Walsall and comprises 365 works of art, including prints, sketches, sculptures, drawings and paintings collected by Kathleen Garman (later wife of the sculptor Jacob Epstein ) and lifelong friend Sally Ryan . The Garman Ryan collection features many examples of works by key European artists of late 19th and early 20th Century, including Van Gogh , Picasso , Monet , Turner and Degas . There are
68-459: A high number of works on paper within the collection and a number of sketches relating to major works by European artists, such as Delacroix 's charcoal sketch of a New Born Lamb . It also includes a selection of sculpture, vessels and votive objects from cultures in Africa, Asia and South America. There are a significant number of works by Jacob Epstein within the collection. The collection contains
102-667: Is a modern and contemporary art gallery in the town of Walsall , in the West Midlands , England. It was built with £21 million of public funding, including £15.75 million from the UK National Lottery and additional money from the European Regional Development Fund and City Challenge. The Gallery is funded by Walsall Council and Arts Council England ; this funding is further supplemented by its own income generation. Admission
136-508: Is free. Its first Director was Peter Jenkinson. In May 2005, former BALTIC director Stephen Snoddy was appointed as director. Designed by the architects Caruso St John after winning an international design competition, it opened in January 2000, replacing the town's old gallery and an arts centre that had been closed by the council almost a decade earlier. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 5 May 2000, during her visit to
170-729: Is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands , England. The town of Walsall had been a borough from medieval times, which was reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 the council has been a metropolitan borough council . It provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority since 2016. The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2019. The council meets at Walsall Council House and has its main offices at
204-679: The Learning Outside the Classroom quality badge mark in 2009. The New Art Gallery Walsall was one of the first cultural organisations in the UK to take on a Creative Apprentice in 2009. The Gallery, alongside Ikon Gallery , works in partnership with Birmingham City University to run the Artist Teacher Scheme , a professional development programme for art educators. The New Art Gallery has free public Wi-Fi throughout
238-590: The geographical county of Staffordshire . The borough was enlarged in 1966 to take in Darlaston and Willenhall . The modern metropolitan borough and its council were established in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , as one of seven boroughs in the new metropolitan county of the West Midlands. The new borough covered the combined area of the old county borough of Walsall plus
272-541: The leader of the council . The leaders since 2004 have been: Following the 2024 election and subsequent changes of allegiance later in May 2024, the composition of the council was: Eight of the independent councillors sit together as a group. The next election is due in May 2026. The council meets at the Council House on Lichfield Street, which had been completed in 1905 for the old borough council. It replaced
306-738: The Contemporary Art Society Special Collection scheme, the New Art Gallery Walsall was able to add to its collections works by Gavin Turk , Hew Locke, Mike Nelson , Yoshihiro Suda, Dorothy Cross, Laura Ford, Darren Lago, Estelle Thompson, Richard Woods, Yinka Shonibare and Rose Finn-Kelcey . The works that comprise this collection transfer ownership to Walsall Council from the Contemporary Art Society in 2014. In 2007,
340-540: The Gallery hosted the first year long display of works by artist Damien Hirst as part of the ARTIST ROOMS on Tour in partnership with Tate. The New Art Gallery also has a history of exhibiting group shows, beginning with the inaugural exhibition Blue featuring works by artists such as Anish Kapoor , Glen Brown , Barbara Hepworth and Bridget Riley . The 2009 exhibition Re-Imagining Asia , aimed to explore
374-924: The New Art Gallery was awarded £1million through the Art Fund International to collect international contemporary art on the theme of the metropolis. This has included the acquisition of works by Jochem Hendricks , Grazia Toderi , Dynita Singh , Zhang Enli , Christiane Baumgartner , Barry McGee and Nicolas Provost . The temporary exhibition galleries on the third and fourth floor are dedicated to exhibiting contemporary and historic art. The Gallery has held solo exhibitions by artists including Suzanne Treister , Mark Titchner , Toby Ziegler, Conrad Shawcross , Hew Locke , Joana Vasconcelos , Zarina Bhimji , Christopher Le Brun , Gordon Cheung, Layla Curtis , Anna Barriball , Adam Dant Gavin Turk and Jonathan Yeo . Between 2012 and 2013,
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#1732801270636408-657: The UK through their regular residency programs. Artists in residence include: a.a.s , Simon and Tom Bloor, Sean Burn, Faye Claridge, Lucienne Cole, Harminder Judge, Juneau Projects, Karin Kihlberg and Reuben Henry, Feng-Ru Lee, Bob and Roberta Smith , Ivan Smith, Yoke and Zoom. The Discovery Gallery, now rebranded Disco, was the first interactive art space of its kind in the country, designed specifically for young visitors and families. Over 60,000 school children have visited The New Art Gallery since 2003, along with 34,000 lifelong learning participants. The Gallery gained
442-499: The West Midlands. The New Art Gallery's stark building won several architectural awards and attracted over 237,000 visitors in its opening year. In 2000, the gallery was shortlisted for the prestigious Sterling Architecture Prize. The five-story building is clad in pale terracotta and has a floor area of 5,000 square metres (53,820 sq ft). The interior of the Gallery features a heavy use of concrete and 75mm thick douglas fir wooden cladding. The public square surrounding
476-524: The adjoining Civic Centre. The town of Walsall was an ancient borough . It also had a mayor from at least 1377. The town's claim to be a borough was not supported by a charter , leading to disputes with the lord of the manor . A formal charter was eventually issued in 1627. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , which standardised how most boroughs operated across
510-487: The building was designed by Richard Wentworth and Catherine Yass . The Gallery has been seen as an attempt to encourage regeneration in the local area. The architecture has been both praised and criticised, described as "almost flawless" by the RIBA and "extraordinarily good" by Hugh Pearman but also castigated by John Stewart-Young as an "architectural indulgence", an impressive building that lacks consideration of how
544-633: The building. In 2006, the Gallery opened a free public access Art Library, where visitors are able to learn about culture, exhibitions and award-winning architecture. Since opening nearly 50,000 people have made use of the specialist collection of books, journals and archive material. The ground floor café in The New Art Gallery Walsall was transformed into a Costa Coffee store in August 2007. Walsall Council Walsall Council , formally Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council ,
578-474: The collection; there are a number of works by Theodore Garman , the son of Kathleen Garman and Jacob Epstein, and Portrait of Kitty , a portrait of Epstein's daughter Kitty by her first husband Lucian Freud . The collection was donated to the people of Walsall in 1973 and opened to the public in July 1974. It was originally exhibited in what was the first floor reference room of Walsall Library. The collection
612-462: The council appoints two of its councillors to sit on the board of the combined authority as Walsall's representatives. There are no civil parishes in the borough. The Conservatives have held a majority of the seats on the council since 2019. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Walsall. Political leadership is provided by
646-483: The council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the West Midlands County Council . The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the county's seven borough councils, including Walsall, with some services provided through joint committees. Since 2016 the council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority , which has been led by
680-446: The country. It was then governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Walsall', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Walsall was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it became a county borough , independent from the new Staffordshire County Council , whilst remaining part of
714-421: The death of Jacob Epstein (Kathleen's husband) whose work and own personal artefacts feature heavily within the collection. The Collection was largely assembled between 1959 and 1973. Kathleen was the sole beneficiary of Epstein's estate upon his death, and although she sold much of his collection in accordance with his will, she retained a number of objects that were said to be of significance to her. Sally Ryan
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#1732801270636748-499: The directly elected Mayor of the West Midlands since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across the county, but Walsall Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions. Walsall Council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the West Midlands Combined Authority;
782-627: The earlier Guildhall on High Street, which had been built in 1867 on a site which had been occupied by the town's guildhall from the fifteenth century. The council's main offices are in the Civic Centre on Darwall Street, which is linked to the Council House by a bridge over Darwall Street. Since the last boundary changes in 2004, the council has comprised 60 councillors representing 20 wards , with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with
816-412: The largest single holding of works by Jacob Epstein anywhere. Many of these works are bronze portrait busts, a mix of family members and commissioned portraits. There are also studies for key works, such as Study for Rock Drill . It is unclear at exactly what point Kathleen Garman and Sally Ryan conceived of making a collection of art. It has been suggested that the collection was, in part, in response to
850-689: The meaning and relevance of the term “contemporary Asian art” in the 21st century and within a wider context of globalisation, migration and an increasingly international art world. It featured artists such as Song Dong , exhibiting here in the UK for the first time. In 2010, the New Art Gallery celebrated its tenth birthday with the exhibition Party! . In 2011, the Gallery hosted the exhibition The Life of The Mind: Love, Sorrow and Obsession , curated by artist Bob and Roberta Smith. This included key works by Sarah Lucas , Louise Bourgeois , Tracey Emin and Yayoi Kusama . The gallery has continually supported emerging and established artists from throughout
884-409: The neighbouring Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District . The metropolitan district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Walsall's series of mayors dating back to the fourteenth century. The council styles itself Walsall Council rather than its full formal name of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council. From 1974 until 1986
918-607: The previously undocumented and unseen Epstein Archive to audiences. The initiative forms part of New Ways of Curating , a project initiated by Arts Council England. The permanent collection of artworks at the Gallery incorporates the municipal holdings built up from 1892, from the formal foundation of Walsall's art collection. It ranges from Victorian paintings by Frank Holl and Briton Rivière , including some of local interest through to works by contemporary artists, such as Catherine Yass, Robert Priseman and Fiona Banner . Through
952-402: The wider public will use it. The essayist Theodore Dalrymple described the interior as resembling both "a fascist foreign ministry" and "a sauna of gigantic proportions". There have been a number of minor alterations to the building since its opening, including changing of the ground floor retail area into a cafe, and addition of more windows around its entrance. In 2006, Floor 4 of the gallery
986-528: Was able to fund the collection of artworks due to a large inheritance received from her grandfather Thomas Fortune Ryan , a successful American tobacco and transport magnate. A number of Sally Ryan's own works also form part of the Garman Ryan collection. Kathleen Garman also ran her own commercial art gallery , 'The Little Gallery', operating in Kensington, London in the mid-1960s, as a consequence she
1020-453: Was buying and selling art on a regular basis. It has been suggested that a number of works from the Garman Ryan collection were originally 'Little Gallery' stock. A number of artists represented with the collection also had personal connections with Kathleen Garman and Sally Ryan. Jacob Epstein was Kathleen's late husband, and artists Augustus John , Gaudier-Brzeska and Amedeo Modigliani were all friends. Family links are also evident within
1054-554: Was commissioned to design a new sculpture terrace for the Gallery, opening to the public later that same year the space converted a previously underused area of patio on floor 4. The Gallery houses the fixed Garman Ryan Collection of sculptures and paintings by modern masters including a large selection of work by Jacob Epstein and many significant works by European artists including Vincent van Gogh , Claude Monet , Turner, Corot, Renoir and Constable represented in prints, sketches, drawings, paintings and sculptures. The collection
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1088-506: Was donated to the people of Walsall in 1973 by Epstein's late wife Kathleen Garman (Lady Epstein) and her friend Sally Ryan . In 2006, the gallery acquired the Epstein Archive , a collection of photographs, manuscripts, sketches and correspondence between Jacob Epstein and his family and friends, patrons, buyers and galleries. In 2009 Bob and Roberta Smith was commissioned to work alongside Archive Curator Neil Lebeter to reveal
1122-503: Was moved to its new purpose-built home over two floors of The New Art Gallery Walsall , and opened to the public in this new setting in 2000. The Garman Ryan collection is exhibited thematically, as was the intention of Kathleen Garman. The themes are; "Children", "Work and Leisure", "Flowers and Still Life", "Religion", "Illustration and symbolism", "Figure studies", "Animals and Birds", "Trees", "Portraits" and "Landscapes". The New Art Gallery Walsall The New Art Gallery Walsall
1156-408: Was transformed from a restaurant area into a new gallery space. The gallery space with 8m high ceiling has enabled the Gallery to present a further programme of exhibitions, in addition to its main temporary exhibition galleries. This has included exhibitions by regional and international artists including David Batchelor , Richard Billingham and Leo Fitzmaurice . In 2012, artist Sarah Staton
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