You can’t but help notice the bright blue hoarding that has been erected around the art gallery declaring to all that York Art Gallery is changing!

Over the past seven weeks Conlon construction have been working on the first stage of the gallery project and have been conducting the enabling works which will allow us to progress to the main contract works in September. The enabling works entail stripping back and getting to know the building. Allowing the architects, engineers, and project team to investigate and assess whether their initial investigations and surveys are correct. It also allows us to look at the building much like blank canvas and get a feel for the space and protect the areas that are specific to the grade II listed building.

Behind the hoarding façade the gallery has changed so much in a matter of weeks. Layers of the gallery are gradually being stripped back to reveal some pretty impressive details such as these magnificent columns in the reception area.

Gone is hulking great behemoth of air handling unit in the picture store that made me weep some days!

The floors have been removed in the main gallery to clear the asbestos.

To make way for the huge web of scaffolding that has been erected to gain access to the 1950’s glass ceiling.

Which has now been removed to reveal the true magnificence of the secret gallery.

…not so secret anymore as this will be the Centre for British Studio Ceramics.

The 1950’s block to the rear of the building that used to be the rabbit warren of offices, library and our friendly mess room has also been stripped back to it’s bare bones and has revealed itself to be a huge bright space ready for the changes to take place in the next phase of the redevelopment.

We are on the verge of taking down the little gallery to reveal the view from the reception area to the secret gallery and works will be starting in the archives in July. This will clear the space and make way for the new North wing to the gallery.

Watch this space…

York Art Gallery is closed and we have launched our packed programme of events for the interim, until the transformed Gallery re-opens in 2015, writes Jenny Alexander, Assistant Curator of Fine Art.

We are collaborating with local artist, illustrator and general magpie, Mark Hearld, who is fresh from his wonderful exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

An exhibition of his illustrations from A First Book of Nature is currently on display in the Yorkshire Museum.

Mark is working with all of YMT’s collections to create new work and develop an exciting exhibition at York Art Gallery using our collections in fantastic new ways.

Over the next few months, Mark will be visiting the YMT stores, seeking inspiration (which is not hard to find) and generally getting very excited about the “stuff” that we have here.

Here he is at one of the social history stores enthusing over some carousel horses.

We will be tweeting and blogging over the next year with images and interesting discoveries and Mark will maybe even post the odd sketch as his new work develops. So stay tuned!

This week I visited York St. Mary’s, our historic space for contemporary art located just next to the Coppergate Centre in York. The current exhibition showcases the shortlisted art works for this year’s Aesthetica Art Prize with an eclectic display of pieces ranging from video and photography to sculpture and textiles.

My favourite piece is ‘The Family Meal’ by the winner of the 2013 Student Prize Poppy Whatmore, which features a kitchen / dining room setting exploding out of a frame.

Prize-winning artwork by Poppy Whatmore

The piece reminded me of work by the artist Cornelia Parker, whose ‘Thirty Pieces of Silver’ featured at York St. Mary’s in 2011. I loved the captivating magic of Poppy’s sculpture – as if someone had waved a wand and suspended time.

Why not visit and see which piece captures your imagination? The exhibition runs until 28 April 2013 and entry is free.

Nearly 4,000 people attended York Art Gallery’s open day at the beginning of the month, when we opened the doors to visitors for the last time before we reopen as a much bigger gallery in 2015.
Gaby Lees, assistant curator of arts learning, and her team invited visitors to draw on the walls and outside our Yarn Bomb event attracted knitters from across the region!
Thanks to everyone for coming – here are some memories of the day, courtesy of photographer Kippa Matthews:

Meet Peckasso the knitted pigeon - taking a walk around Exhibition Square in the snow as he looks forward to York Art Gallery’s Yarn Bomb event on 2 February.

Our little woolly friend kept nice and cosy in the wintry weather this morning but was glad to get back indoors to the warm office of Gaby Lees, our assistant curator of arts learning.

Gaby is hoping Exhibition Square will be decorated with yarn, shredded fabrics and woolly characters like Peckasso on the Yarn Bomb day and already has more than 50 people promising to come along and help.

If you want to join in all you have to do is turn up with your creations on the day and help us wrap up the whole square! Or if you want to sign up in advance, visit Gaby’s  Yarn Bomb facebook page

The event is part of the gallery’s Your Gallery Open Day on 2 February which is a chance for the public to have a look at the empty gallery, once all the paintings and pots have been removed, before building work begins on a major redevelopment. The gallery closed on 31 December and will reopen to the public in 2015.

Visitors will be able to paint and draw on the walls of the Main Gallery, paint the South Gallery with light, listen to live music, visit the craft cafe and watch the Northern Potters creating a clay version of the gallery .

Helen Walsh,  assistant curator of decorative arts, has filmed our biggest piece of pottery being moved down two flights of stairs as York Art Gallery is emptied in preparation for building work. She writes about it here:

Hua De Tu An, Flower Pictures II was created by Felicity Aylieff in 2007. It is made of porcelain and is 2m high, 65cm in diameter and around 250kg in weight.

It was made by Aylieff when she was resident artist in Jingdezhen, China, working at Mr Yu’s Big Ware Factory. Jingdezhen is known as the porcelain capital of China.

Aylieff designed the shape of the giant vase and then two potters made it in seven sections, which were put together, then fired.

She then decorated it with floral patterns in blue and white to capture the essence of traditional Chinese pottery.

It arrived at York Art Gallery in 2009 and was on display until October 2010 and often voted a favourite by our visitors. For the last 15 months it has been hidden from public view, boxed into the corner of one of our upper galleries.

Once we closed our doors on 31 December, 2012, this was the first gallery to be cleared as we prepare for our major redevelopment (which will include a new Centre for British Studio Ceramics).

A whole team was drafted in to help move the Aylieff pot down the main gallery stairs and I was very relieved when the operation was finished!

It is always a relief when you have finished moving something so huge with so many other people involved  – if the film looks wobbly in places it is because I was so nervous!

A big thank you to the team for their efforts and to Graham Thorne for putting together my footage into this film.

All the pots are now in storage elsewhere in York and I’m off to Plymouth next week to help set up the latest stage of our touring exhibition Gordon Baldwin: Objects for a Landscape at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery.

From tessellating tiny squares into mini mosaics to folding flowers out of fancy napkins, paper crafts have been a passion of mine since childhood.

I’m constantly looking for inspiration so this month I visited Manchester Art Gallery to see their exhibition, The First Cut. Having been a fan of Rob Ryan’s intricate cut-outs, I was keen to see what he and other paper artists could create. The result was an impressive array of art that celebrates the possibilities of paper.

Not only was the exhibition inspiring for my own work, but it also reminded me to revisit York Museums Trust’s own collections.

Many of my favourites at York Art Gallery are works on paper. I love the two pieces by John Stezaker where photos of famous faces have been covered with old-fashioned postcards, challenging our expectations of what printed images should be used for.

Henry Furniss’ drawing The Pantomime features as part of the Art and Music exhibition. The delicate freehand skill of the sketching gives a real energy and atmosphere to the scene – you can feel the excitement as hundreds of people gather in the grand theatre.

The Community Chest currently contains an array of fairytale creatures to coincide with the recent Wonderland-themed Illuminating York event. From tiny pixies to luxurious landscapes, I love opening up the drawers to take a peak at the magical scenes inside.

It’s been fascinating seeing our exhibition, Gordon Baldwin: Objects for a Landscape shown in different galleries around the country, writes Helen Walsh, assistant curator of decorative arts.

You can see the changes which appear in different locations in these pictures by Philip Sayer.

At Gallery Oldham the pots were displayed in a very light gallery, which looks out onto the hilly Pennine landscape to the east of Oldham.

The exhibition at Gallery Oldham

At the National Centre for Craft and Design, in Sleaford, which is currently showing the exhibition, the gallery is more of an industrial building with a low ceiling.

The layout has changed slightly each time, giving a slightly different perspective, with different relationships developing bewteen the pots.

We are very grateful to Phil for taking these pictures for our records. He has photographed many of Baldwin’s sculptural ceramics and his photos were used to illustrate the book which accompanies this exhibition.

He also took the landscapes of North Wales which are on display in the exhibition, which show Baldwin’s inspirational “Place of Stones”.

For more about Baldwin’s work, watch him on film talking about his creative process.

The exhibition at the National Centre for Craft and Design in Sleaford

Part of the Wonderland mural

As the Vic Reeves Wonderland draws the crowds in the Museum Gardens next door, another wonderland is being created in the Studio at York Art Gallery.

During the half-term holiday families are invited to drop in to the gallery and draw or paint fantastical images inspired by paintings and drawings from our collection.

Evie Burnett, 8, with her illuminated image

They can then see them projected onto the walls in our own mini-Illuminating York display!

Vanessa Langford, who is leading the Big Draw workshops, said she had already worked with a group of adults on the Big Draw Wonderland at the gallery as part of her work with York-based Magnetic Arts.

The adults not only created their own paintings, but started a huge mural on the wall which children have completed this week.

Come and join us during half-term and have a go yourself! All welcome, just a £1 charge per person, open 11 – 1pm and 2 – 4pm, open tomorrow (Thursday ) and Friday 2nd.

Find more details of other events this week, including live music and late-night opening on the York Art Gallery website.

Scarlett Burnett, 4, stands by her image

Artist John Smyth, who created the York Mystery Plays 2012 poster artwork, joined us at York Art Gallery during the summer holidays to help create a mural inspired by the plays.

Children who visited our drop-ins helped paint giant brightly coloured sections for the mural, which has gone on display in the marquee in the Museum Gardens, where they plays are being performed until Monday.

Gaby Lees, assistant curator of arts learning, said the sessions had proved a huge success.

John’s original artwork went on display in York Art Gallery earlier this summer,  next to a painting by Stanley Spencer, whose work inspired the stage and costume design of the 2012 production. (See article and picture from the York Press)

Artist Kirstie Blything is in the gallery Tuesday to Friday this week and next week  (until 31 August) creating small collages themed on our main summer exhibition Art and Music - all welcome to these friendly drop-in sessions – just £1 per child to cover our costs.

For more details visit the York Art Gallery website.

Here’s some pictures by Gaby of the mural painting in progress:

John Smyth at work in York Art Gallery

Young artists hard at work on the Mystery Plays mural

Helping to create our Mystery Plays mural

Half way there...

A completed mural panel

Another finished part of the mural