YORK artists have a better chance than ever before to attain exposure in their home city as Gavin Pollard’s Newgate Gallery joins the increasing throng in the city.

There was a time when local talent felt stymied and neglected, but art with a York stamp on it has blossomed at Ann Petherick’s Kentmere House Gallery in Scarcroft Hill; Amie Antoniak’s Artfulness and Estee Roberts’s ArtEstee in Goodramgate; and Greg and Ails McGee’s ArtSpace gallery and workshop in Tower Street.

Robert Teed and Paula Jackson’s exquisitely tasteful New School House Gallery is raising the bar in Peasholme Green and Bar Lane Studios, the social enterprise launched by Ben Clowes, is creating a buzz in its first three months with its exhibitions, studio space for artists, workshops and bustling café.

Newgate Gallery has made an encouraging start too, packed with art, jewellery and woodwork, as Gavin Pollard brings to life the 700-year-old property in Newgate market place that had lain dormant for eight years.

Formerly a jewellers and once upon a time a garden centre, three-storey building now has a black-and-white exterior and interior motif, matched by the large model sheep at the doorway that greets visitors to Gavin’s gallery and café.

This former York College contemporary design and craft student, from Selby, had been working as a freelance prop maker for the television industry, working on Last Of The Summer Wine for example, as well as doing window displays for Marks & Spencer in London and Disney stores in America. On his 30th birthday, however, he vowed he would set up his own business, one that would benefit local artists by offering them studios to let and exhibition space.

“I sat down two years ago and had the idea of artists being able to exhibit in a gallery for ten per cent commission, rather than me taking the usual fees of between 35 and 50 per cent,” says Gavin. “What they can do is rent space from £18 per week and they can then sell work in whatever medium they want – paintings, ceramics, glassware, jewellery, illustration, wooden furniture, whatever – as long as it’s all hand-crafted.

“The whole idea came about from my own frustration at not being able to get things exhibited in galleries, who can be so picky, picky, selecting one or two pieces and then doubling the price so they end up just gathering dust.”

Encouraged by the support of Heidi Green at the York Business Advice Centre, Gavin sought funding from the Whyte Knight Fund, the York organisation that supports business initiatives for those who “struggle to gain funding in the traditional way from banks”. “They gave me the maximum backing available and still visit and keep an eye on my progress; and the rest of the money was my own finance,” he says.

His gallery is progressing well, with a regular flow of traffic for tables and chairs for tea and coffee and colourful cupcakes, alongside artwork on the ground floor and more space for artists’ work and more chairs upstairs.

“We now have a waiting list of 60-odd artists wanting to rent space in the gallery,” says Gavin. “Nine months is the maximum contract and at any one time there can be 30 artists on show, though that will fluctuate, depending on the size of the artwork.”

He has been delighted by two factors in particular. “Many artists here had never exhibited for years because they’d lost faith, but they’ve come to this gallery,” says Gavin, whose “Don’t Hide Your Art Work At Home” mantra is paying off. “There’s also the recession thing that people have full-time jobs and can’t get their art out there as craft fairs are extremely expensive, whereas I can sell it on their behalf and bring them some extra income.”

He believes the position of the gallery by the market is beneficial too, attracting both tourists and local people. “What I wanted to avoid was a library/gallery atmosphere, where people are stopped from browsing by a fear they’ll be pounced upon to buy an expensive piece of art,” says Gavin.

“Here you can sit down and have a cup of coffee, walk around and look at the art in a light, airy, relaxed atmosphere. Sometimes people come in with no intention of buying a piece of art, but by the time they’ve sat and had a coffee, they’re drawn to something on the walls.”

Prices range from £5 to £4,500 and among the arts and crafts on show at present are stained-glass designs by Gloria Biggs; glass by Suzanne Dekker; bat sculptures by Micahel Kusz; portraits and floral art by Lynda Hunter; portraits by Amanda Downing; ceramics by Trudy Weir and Steve Leaning; and Gesso panels by Jaq McCaughern, who is exhibiting for the first time in ten years.

There are also watercolours by Robin Storey; collages by May Jones; photographs by first-time exhibitor Carl Stowell; shamanic art by Barbara Weyer; textile designs, such as handbags, by Veronica Pock; animal artwork by Paul Robinson; chairs, seats and further items in wood by Jolyon Yates; and jewellery by Lena Pringle, Sarah Clarke and Vicky Rainey. All are welcome to display their business cards too. “I tell them this gallery is not only a sales space but an advertising space so that they can get commissions,” says Gavin.

Space on the first floor is available for college students, along with one large, rotating space for artists who want to exhibit for only one week.

Plans for the future include opening the second floor as a studio space for three artists in 2011. “We we’re also looking at having an artist of the month with a window display, starting next year, and we’ll be asking artists to come in and demonstrate their work, booking them in for a day to sit and potter,” says Gavin.

His gallery is open from 9.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Saturday, and 11am to 4pm on Sundays, and he can be contacted on 07824 392475 or via email to forartssake@live.com. For more information, visit newgategalleryonline.com.


Did you know?

Gavin Pollard’s wife, Rachael Clarke, is head of music at Joseph Rowntree School, York.