Image: SHARP, Dancing with Elvis, 1999-2021, photographic print, courtesy the artist.
Spring Newsletter 2022
Spring is finally in the air, and we are celebrating with a jam-packed programme of exhibitions, talks, events and more!
The exhibition You Belong Here: Artists Rediscovering Salford's Green Spaces (part of the city-wide Rediscovering Salford project) continues an extended run at Salford Museum & Art Gallery until 19th June. Enjoy artist-made birdboxes, drag ghost stories and video installations alongside painting, drawing, printmaking and photography – all inspired by our local environments. Drop in for a visit or join a monthly curator tour - including sessions with BSL interpretation and Audio Description – all details below.
Plus – make sure to 'save the date' for our party on the 16th June, as we draw the Rediscovering Salford project to a close in style! Expect music, art, films, tours, street food, performances, workshops and more across the Crescent - look out for more details coming very soon.
The brighter weather is also the perfect time to experience The Storm Cone by Laura Daly, a 'mesmerising' augmented reality app experience in nearby Peel Park. Explore in your own time using a free app on your smartphone or tablet, and join our free Artist's Talk on 19th May to find out more about the fascinating process behind making the work. Artist guided tours will also take place on the 16th June event.
To continue your exhibition fix: we're delighted to welcome you back to our New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery – which relaunched on 30th March with a new show by four Salford Alumni in our collection. Theirs, Yours, Ours explores queer and non-binary identity, with print, photography and sculpture-based work by Mollie Balshaw, Heather Glazzard, Sadé Mica and SHARP. Open to all public, students and staff - visit until 30th September.
We're also pleased to announce our co-commissioned exhibition Stirrings by Salford-based artist Rachel Goodyear, is now open at the Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool. Expect exquisite and surreal pencil drawings – plus a major new installation. On display at the Grundy until 11th June before coming to Salford Museum & Art Gallery from 15th July.
We close this month's newsletter with a huge thank you and fond farewell to our Digital Content and Engagement Officer Alistair Small, who leaves at the end of the month. Since joining the team in 2021 Alistair has helped us make huge strides in making our collection more visible, accessible and useful - with a move to a new art storage facility and research space, and a soft launch of our online catalogue. We wish him the best of luck on his next adventure!
Keep well, and hope to see you soon - online or in person - at one of our next events.
Stephanie Fletcher
Assistant Curator
Exhibitions
Exhibition: Theirs, Yours, Ours: queer and non-binary perspectives on identity
From 30th March - 30th September 2022
New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery, University of Salford
Part of ‘A Modest Show’, the collateral programme to British Art Show 9
Theirs, Yours, Ours brings together the work of four University of Salford Alumni; Mollie Balshaw, Heather Glazzard, Sadé Mica, and SHARP, who explore queer and non-binary perspectives through print, photography, painting, and installation.
From the 1990s to today, the artists in this exhibition explore what it means to be represented, celebrate identities that lie beyond traditional gender expectations, and reflect on the shifts in identity that take place over time. Together, they consider: What does it mean to be, and look, ‘queer’? How are we limited by society’s binary expectations? And in what way does existing beyond them free us?
With work made during the artists’ time at University and as Graduate Scholars, along-side more recent work, together Theirs, Yours, Ours celebrates the possibilities of queer and non-binary identity, while also reflecting the shifts and transitions in identity that take place over time.
The exhibition is open weekdays, 10am - 4pm, excluding bank holidays. Admission is free.
On display at Grundy until the 11th of June, Stirrings sees Goodyear experiment with scale, making her largest and most detailed drawing to date. Over her 20-year career, Goodyear has retained a core commitment to the act of drawing, as well as a commitment to the expansion of drawing as a medium. For Stirrings, alongside new works on paper, Goodyear has also developed a major new installation. With nods to mythological journeys into the Underworld, Dante’s levels of Hell and our continuous scrolling through social media, Goodyear’s animation takes the form of a never-ending descent.
Elements from the exhibition will be jointly acquired into the permanent collections of Grundy Art Gallery and the University of Salford Art Collection. The exhibition will also tour to Salford Museum and Art Gallery from 15 July 2022.
For more information about the exhibition click here.
Image: Rachel Goodyear, Concentration, (detail) 2022, courtesy and copyright the artist. Photo: Michael Pollard.
Exhibition: Leaves / Leaving by Lowri Evans
Open until 19th June 2022
Free, Salford Museum and Art Gallery
Reflecting on cycles of life, death and the act of letting go, Evans’ Leaves / Leaving asks what we can learn from nature, and what wisdom we might share with each other.
The exhibition follows a participatory public event which took place under three trees in Salford during Autumn 2021, reflecting on cycles of life, death and the act of letting go.
Free to attend at Salford Museum and Art Gallery, follow the Museum's latest guidance when planning your visit.
Please note this exhibition is on display on the Bluestairs Gallery and is not accessible to everyone. The exhibition can also be viewed online.
Save the date for Salford Rediscovered: a celebration sprawling across the Crescent and showcasing the artists, stories and green spaces from the city-wide Rediscovering Salford programme.
From 2020 – 2022, the project animated the city with new commissions, exhibitions, workshops and events. As it comes to a close, we will gather to share and celebrate with a bang across Salford Museum and Art Gallery, the University of Salford campus, and Peel Park. The event will include visual art, music, films, tours, performances and more. From an exclusive appearance of ‘Madam Mort’ as created by drag artist Cheddar Gorgeous, to mouth-watering street food from GRUB, and to family-friendly workshops, this is a party for anyone and everyone.
Salford Rediscovered is led by the Salford Culture and Place Partnership, the University of Salford, Solid Ground, Salford City Council, Salford Museum & Art Gallery, and RHS Garden Bridgewater. Programme and engagement delivery with Islington Mill, Paradise Works, START Creative, The Lowry and Walk the Plank. Generously supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
The Storm Cone: Artist Talk with Laura Daly
6:00 – 7:30 pm, 19th May
Free, Salford Museum and Art Gallery
The Storm Cone by Laura Daly, with music composed by Lucy Pankhurst is an immersive, augmented reality artwork. It is located on the site of the original bandstand in Peel Park and experienced via a free app. The Storm Cone is a journey through music and sound that considers our relationship with the past, while charting the fading away of a brass band during the interwar years (1918 – 1939).
Join artist Laura Daly in conversation with University of Salford Art Collection Curator Lindsay Taylor as they discuss the concept behind the work, Laura’s research and working with the university to create the final piece.
The talk is free to attend and will take place in-person at the Museum, please book your free ticket through Salford Museum and Art Gallery, here.
To see all the details, book free tickets, and see all the upcoming events, click here.
Image: You Belong Here, installation view: Rourke Heiss Photography
North West Socially Engaged Photography Network Meet Up: Co-authoring the collection
12 - 2:30 pm, Thurs 28th April
Online, with Redeye The Photography Network
Join Socially Engaged Photographer in Residence, Gwen Riley Jones and Rosie Naylor, Community Engagement Coordinator with RHS Bridgewater, discussing commissioning socially engaged projects from both the photographer's and commissioner's point of view.
This event is for anyone who would like to gain a better understanding of the commissioning process, from both the photographers and commissioners point of view, those working within archive and collections, and for those who would like to contribute to creating a better commissioning landscape.
To learn more about the event and register for free, click here.
Now in its eighth year, the Graduate Scholarship Programme is now open for applications for the 2022 cohort.
The 12-month scheme, managed by the University of Salford Art Collection in collaboration with Castlefield Gallery, supports artists in the crucial first year after graduation – providing time, space, and resources to continue developing a professional contemporary practice.
All the details of the programme, who is eligible, and how to apply here.
From the blog
Goodbye Alistair Small!
At the end of this month we say goodbye to Alistair Small, our Digital Content and Engagement Officer!
Alistair shares some reflections on his work with the collection over the past 7 months, including working on the Collection’s digitization project and new digital catalogue.
We wish Alistair the best of luck in his next steps and thank him for all his hard work over his time with us.
Image: Liam Young, Where the City Can't See (book). Courtesy of the Artist. Photograph by Museum Photography North West.
Latest Updates: Socially Engaged Photographer in Residence
More from our Socially Engaged Photographer in Residence Gwen Riley Jones!
Gwen has been busy collaborating with young people in Salford to explore the purpose of art, including working with Salford Youth Council and Action for Conservation. We have had the pleasure of hosting these groups for recent store visits, and we are excited to see what comes next from Gwen’s work.
To stay up to date with Gwen and her work, you can see the latest blogs:
Early 2022 update - Gwen discusses what is NOT art with Salford Youth Council.
Click here, for all of the blog posts from Gwen Riley Jones.
Image: Courtesy Gwen Riley Jones.
Recap: Women's History Month 2022
During March, for Women’s History Month this year, across our social media and blog we celebrated by sharing works from some of the women in our Collection.
Over on our Instagram and Twitter we highlighted works from our Collection selected by members of Salford Youth Council, as well as works picked out by different members of our team.
In addition, we shared a longer blog with our Digital Content and Engagement Officer, Alistair Small discussing his studio visit with printmaker, sculptor and environmental artist, Cecile Elstein.
Elstein was a member of the Manchester Print Workshop, based at the University of Salford in the 1980s. The University of Salford Art Collection contains a number of works by Elstein from this time as part of a wider collection of work from the Manchester Print Workshop, founded by Kip Gresham in 1975.
Image: Cecile Elstein, A Letter From Mrs Gould, Screen Print on Derwent Rough Paper. 1980. Courtesy of Cecile Elstein Studio.
Salford Digital Archive launch:
Our friends at the University Archives and Special Collections have recently launched the new Salford Digital Archive platform. Explore a wide range of unique and rare primary source content related to local and University history – including manuscripts newspapers, letters, photographs and more.
In addition, read a guest post on our blog by Archivist Alex Mitchell, exploring the Brass Band archive in more detail – a resource that was one of the inspirations behind our commissioned artwork The Storm Cone.
Thanks to all those who attended our fascinating Albert Adams: In Context symposium last month, hosted by Dr Alice Correia. If you joined for part or all of the day, please fill out our feedback survey. Your feedback is vital in helping us plan the next stages of this project!
Stay tuned for video recordings from the day. In the meantime, you can also explore a full image archive and online resource room, here.
Image: Albert Adams in his studio. Courtesy the artists' estate.
Alumni news
Alumni Bridget Coderc featured in new exhibition at AWOL studios
Former Graduate Scholar Bridget Coderc is exhibiting work developed during her time with the Graduate Scholarship programme.
Coderc’s audio-video installation, As Elusive As Ever, is included in the Comme Ca Art x AWOL studios Open Call Exhibition.
Join Bridget for the preview at AWOL studios at Hope Mill, from 6pm on the 28th of April. The exhibition will continue to be open each Saturday from 11 am – 2 pm, or by private appointment, until the end of May.
Submissions for Short Supply’s MADE IT 2022 are now open!
MADE IT is the annual North West Graduate Art Prize from friends and University of Salford Alumni Short Supply. Submissions are now open for both a billboard/fly poster take over with HOME, Manchester, and a physical exhibition at Rogue Artist Studios, showcasing the work of 25 selected graduates.
Submission deadline for HOME: 25/04/2022
Submission deadline for Rogue Artist Studios: 27/06/2022
We look forward to seeing the Sony World Photography Awards 2022 exhibition later this year when it travels to our partner Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool, before embarking on an international tour. We’re also working with Craig to bring the work to Salford in 2023 – watch this space!
Image: Courtesy Craig Easton.
News from our friends & partners
Arts for the Blues: 2-Day Training Event
Fri 17 June 2022
Arts Centre, Ormskirk Campus, Edge Hill University
Tues 12 July 2022
New Adelphi, Peel Park Campus, University of Salford
Arts for the Blues is a creative model of work, developed by a team of artists, therapists and arts therapists. They have received funding to investigate how they can ‘scale up’ this way of working to offer it widely across cultural and health organisations in the North West, and offer opportunities for artists and therapists to collaborate in its delivery.
This free 2-day training event is suitable for artists from all disciplines. No prior experience of working with vulnerable groups and/or therapy training is required. Refreshments will be provided. At the end of the training you will have a better understanding of the Arts for the Blues methodology and how you can use the arts safely in community contexts.
Who Cares?
A symposium exploring the relationship between art, design and health in our ever-shifting world
12:45 - 5:00 pm, Tues 26 April 2022
Chapman Building, Peel Park Campus
University of Salford
Open Eye Gallery and the University of Salford are partnering on their 3rd annual symposium together. This year key speakers will join students and the wider public to explore the interconnections between art, design, creative technology, health and care.
Guest speakers, artists and designers include Lisa Creagh, Daniel Regan, and Elizabeth Newell (Creative Concern), as well as NHS and social prescribing consultants such as Jo Ward and cultural arts and creative technology organisation FACT (Liverpool).
The People’s Park
For University of Salford students.
6 weeks, starting Wed, 27th April.
The People’s Park is an art and nature connection project coming to the University of Salford this Spring / Summer, devised by Artist Niki Colclough, lecturer on the Socially Engaged Art MA programme and funded by the Revive Recovery Fund. The weekly sessions will focus on how nature connection can help us to maintain positive mental health through hands-on, creative workshops.
Job Opportunity: Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces & Operations Coordinator
Do you have a strong knowledge and experience of working with buildings and facilities, as well as supporting company operations? Do you want your work to benefit creative and local communities?
This is an opportunity for someone who wants to play a significant part in the progress of a purpose-led charity that exists to generate a positive impact in our sector and in our communities.
Contract: Fixed term 12 month contract with possible extension
Salary: £20,800
Hours: Full-time (based on a 40 hour week), office hours are 10am-6pm
Closing date for applications: Sunday 22 May 2022, 12 noon
COVID-19:
All dates and details are accurate at time of publication but may be altered in line with the latest Covid guidelines. Please check our website for the latest details, and follow the latest safety guidance at each venue when visiting any in-person events.
