8 March – 1 September 2024

An exhibition of world-class painting that tells an extraordinary story of twentieth century art and modern love through the collection of post-war Bulgarian migrant Mattei Radev. Featuring work by iconic artists including Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani, the collection and its history tell stories of friendship, love and creativity amongst some of Britain’s greatest artists and collectors.

Mattei Radev fled Bulgaria in 1950, in fear of persecution. After a perilous journey, Mattei settled in London where he made a group of supportive friends who helped him find a career as a picture framer, working with some of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.
What is now known as The Radev Collection was started by writer Eddy Sackville-West, 5th Baron Sackville, and on his death in 1965 it was left to his friend and former lover, the art dealer Eardley Knollys. Knollys grew the collection and, in turn, left it to Mattei in 1991, who added to the collection himself. Told through the stories of the three collectors and the homes the collection grew around, this exhibition explores a remarkable time queer history and the history of British art.

The Radev Collection will be shown alongside pieces from the Wilson Collection, as well as new work by artist and columnist Luke Edward Hall. It will bring to life the expressive interiors of the Bloomsbury Group and explore how these homes became sites for experiments in living where people lived amongst chosen family, surrounded by beauty and creativity.

In partnership with Charleston, Lewes

9 March 2024 – 27 April 2024

Alive in Us is a participatory project and living exhibition created by artist duo truluck palmer. It celebrates the vitality and lives of Cheltenham women, past and present.

Co-created by women of all ages, the immersive artwork creates space to explore the relationship between women’s inner lives, bodies, stories, dreams and the natural world, asking – what would you grow in your dream garden?

Take a moment to rest and listen as the gallery space is filled with the sounds of their living conversations.   These are woven together with historic women’s records of the plants they grew in their Cheltenham gardens, as discovered in the collections.

Over the course of the exhibition, as winter turns to spring, the textile of these intimate gardens, imagined and seeded by women co-creators from our partner groups across Cheltenham will grow into the gallery space as a living tapestry.

 

truluck palmer is the collaborative practice of artists Cherry Truluck and zoë laureen palmer.

 

Saturday 9^th March: Family seed planting 11am – 3pm FREE

Saturday 9^th March: Community Party 4pm – 7pm FREE

Every Wednesday from 12-2pm: Plant tending with the artists FREE

Saturday 27^th April, 11am: Celebratory Procession and communal planting from The Wilson to St. Pauls Community Hub FREE

4 May 2024 – 14 July 2024

Cheltenham Illustration Awards selects the most exciting early career illustrators from around the globe for prizes and publishing in our exhibition programme and print annual.

This year’s theme of Interconnectivity was examined in a myriad of ways by our winners, and the printed annual for 2023 is a big book of postcards to further build on the theme of connection.

All the illustrations can be cut out and sent to friends near and far.

This year our jury includes the wonderful:

Jasjyot Singh Hans, illustrator: http://jasjyotjasjyot.com

Monika Forsberg, illustrator: http://walkyland.com

Lily Trotter, senior designer Oxford University Press: http://oup.com

Simon Cooke, editor, Illustration Magazine: https://www.cellopress.co.uk/page/illustration

Tim Baldwin, owner, Pooki Presses: https://www.pookipresses.co.uk/about

The 2024 call for entries is set to be launched on 27 April at the Finelines Animation and Illustration Festival in Cheltenham. Find out more at http://cheltenham-illustration-awards.com

7 October 2023 –18 February 2024

Saturday 18 February 2023 – Sunday 14 May 2023

Farwa Moledina is a contemporary artist who takes imagery from art history, architecture and culture and makes them into intricate repeated patterns in textile and paper that reframe familiar stories and histories.  Her reoccurring motifs reflect themes of culture, family and faith.

The Wilson’s Pattern Repeat exhibition features a new motif by the artist made from images of objects in The Wilson collection.  This unique design takes inspiration from the Islamic eight point star and adopts principles of Islamic design including recurrence, symmetry and abstraction.

Moledina presents historic works from the collection alongside her own, and curates highlights from The Wilson Print collection including works by Rembrandt, Turner and a selection of influential women artists.

Saturday 22 October 2022 – Sunday 12 March 2023

By artist Michal Iwanowski.

In 2013, Iwanowski retraced the journey his grandfather and great uncle had made and mapped in 1945, following their escape from a Russian prisoner of war camp. They followed a simple rule; stay clear of people, in order to survive.

His series of beautiful, stark landscapes, of quiet forests and snow-bound open spaces document the harsh environment of North Eastern Europe which is once again a site of conflict. This thought provoking exploration of home and displacement, reminds us of the personal stories behind the statistics of war.

Set across two floors, the exhibition conveys Iwanowski’s 1,360 mile journey from Russia to Poland crossing many countries’ borders, along with drawings and photographs from the past, which tell one family’s story now shared across two generations. His grandfather’s escape route mapped against the changing borders of the last 78 years illustrates how these European territories have been claimed, re-claimed and changed by invading and retreating forces.

Photographs of Iwanowski’s family, diary entries and letters, bring this human story to life, and take us on a journey through the majestic, peaceful forests of Lithuania which now grow over vast WWII execution sites where the bodies of the slaughtered lie unseen, just as the poppies of Flanders Field grew where the soldiers had fallen in battle in northern France.

The exhibition invites visitors to share their own journeys in an interactive display.  In response to the question – how did you get here? – communities and visitors will be invited to create their own personal maps and stories describing their family experience which will grow to become part of the exhibition over the coming months.

Step into PLAY, the vibrant and imaginative world of artist Alice Humphreys.

With inspiration drawn from the Museum’s art collection, Alice has pulled upon chosen shapes and patterns from the paintings and prints on display, to create an interactive and engaging experience for visitors of all ages.

For the young visitors, ‘PLAY!’ provides a gateway to exploration, making art tangible, tactile and relatable through fun and interactive installations. The exhibition, sparks curiosity about history and culture in an enjoyable and accessible way.

For adults, the exhibition offers a refreshing perspective.  View historic collections through a child’s eyes and rediscover the joy of play.

1 July 2023 – 30 July 2023

In collaboration with the University of Gloucestershire, the Wilson Art Gallery and Museum is proud to present the work of six new graduates from Fine Art, Fashion, Illustration.

Connected by a materially led process, the works explore innovative approaches to making and exploring surface, texture, material and storytelling. The works use textiles, video and sculpture to bring together the familiar with the extraordinary in invitation to the viewer to engage with and question the world around them.

The Artists:

Emily Goodchild

Georgina Mullins

Jenny Bell

Jimmy Fletcher

Jo Hepburn

Maris Lambie

20 May 2023 – 25 June 2023

Artists in residence Tim Martin, Tolmeia Gregory and Sarah Goddard present Environments, an exhibition of artworks examining natural and built environments from different perspectives. Themes of psychology, catharsis, the benefits of nature and a positive future run through this exhibition.

Tim uses his distinctive street-art style to create large-scale paintings that examine states of mind. Tolmeia imagines a better future in response to the climate crisis in her artworks, as well as activism and climate justice as a whole. Sarah, a sight-impaired artist, has created abstracted mixed-media works based on local outdoor spaces, reflecting her perspective on the world and the positive mental and physical health benefits of time spent in nature.

8 April 2023 – 14 May 2023

A captivating exhibition showcasing the works of our resident artists Joseph Casey, Dinesh Patel, Zack Thorne, and Sean Savage Ferrari. Through painting, sculpture, and installation, each artist explores the concept of construction in a unique and immersive way, using both traditional and unconventional materials and techniques.

The exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to experience a rich and nuanced exploration of the theme, delving into the construction of landscape, narrative, sensory experience, and psychological barriers. The artists’ distinctive practices and perspectives challenge viewers to question their perceptions and provoke new ideas.

4 March 2023 – 2 April 2023

‘Clutter’ was a collaborative exhibition from the local artists of The Wilson Youth Fellowship. The exhibition focuses on home and the importance of accessible & welcoming spaces. It is aimed at people of all walks of life.

‘Clutter’ featured an array of different art forms including photography, painting, sculpture, writing and game development. All artworks were curated by members of The Wilson Youth Fellowship, who are: Danielle Salloum, Danielle Tipton, Ella Daniel-Lowe, Georgia Soper, Holly Williams-Richards, Jade Fisher, Leyla Özkan, Martha Kelsey, Rebecca Simkiss, Ross Morgan, Rowan Ireland, Stuart Fieldhouse & Tanya McDonald.

12 November 2022 to 29 January 2023

We worked with schools, climate groups, care homes and community hubs from across Gloucestershire to create paper and willow lanterns. This immersive and optimistic exhibition highlighted the ways we overcome challenges by holding onto little beacons of hope. By collaborating, building our community and joining forces to address the effects of climate change, we can create a brighter future together.

Over 100 years since his death and the Antarctic expedition, the work of Edward Wilson still brings hope through his research and its capabilities to combat climate change. As Wilson was an advocate for protecting our landscapes and believed in leaving as little footprint as possible, this exhibition aimed to be carbon neutral, from the power sources utilised to biodegradable and sustainably sourced materials. Visitors contributed to the lantern’s glow themselves by becoming the very energy that powers it.

22 July to 3 September 2022

Break The Cycle guided diverse groups of young people aged 15-25 on how to creatively reimagine damaged denim garments destined for landfill, educating a future generation on the importance of rejecting throw-away fashion and embracing simple methods of upcycling. We wanted to teach that not only is diversity in fashion critical, but also that fashion does not need to have a negative impact on the climate.

Additionally, this exhibition focused on furthering the key goals of the community gallery; supporting the museum’s core collection; community outreach, to expand and engage new demographics and extend development and opportunities.

The exhibition involved input from local artists and activists, including Milligan Beaumont, Tolmeia Gregory, Jussara Nazare and Kit Powis. We partnered with National Star College, Cheltenham Borough Homes and Planet Cheltenham.

Saturday 4 November 2023 – Sunday 3 March 2024

In collaboration with Pipeline Gallery, The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum is proud to present the works of 5 artists originally hailing from Gloucestershire. Pipeline gallery invited these 5 artists, now working across the UK, to come back to Cheltenham and see if the town is really the same as when they left.

The Way We Left it touches on the changing arts scene in Cheltenham and looks to investigate how we build better communities for creatives in places like Gloucestershire.  With a series of interactive displays alongside contemporary works, the viewer is invited to have their say, share their stories, and connect with the exhibition.

Pipeline Gallery is on a mission to present challenging works of contemporary art and build an arts scene that support and nourishes local creative talent. Working with students, graduates and emerging artists The Way We Left it is part of a wider programme of works creating opportunities for local people and investigating how we build better communities for artists.

Exhibiting Artists:

Joe Moss

Dinosaur Kilby

Otto Gobey

Maisie Pack

Holly Williams-Richards

Saturday 14 October 2023 – Sunday 25 February 2024

Winchcombe Pottery ranks as one of Britain’s pioneer potteries and has its roots in the Arts and Crafts Movement and traditional English Slipware pottery.

It was founded in 1926 by Michael Cardew, an apprentice of the founding father of British studio pottery Bernard Leach. He invited the experienced local potter Elijah Comfort to join the team, and Sidney Tustin joined in 1927. Cardew’s apprentice Ray Finch later managed the business and eventually took over Winchcombe Pottery when Cardew left in the 1940s.

There has been a working Pottery on the current site in Greet, just outside Winchcombe, Cheltenham, since at least the early 1800s. It was positioned here due to the abundance of red earthenware clay found in the area near the river Isbourne. The original ‘Greet Pottery’ produced a range of farmhouse wares and garden pots using the clay found on site.

In years to follow production switched over to stoneware clay which is much harder wearing for daily use kitchen pots, table- and homeware. Today Winchcombe Pottery produces a ‘Standard Range’ of over 60 wood fired pots that remains close to the original collection introduced by Cardew. It continues to create high quality, handmade, functional pottery for use in the home, whilst also supplying hotels, restaurants and galleries around the world.

The Pottery is still owned by descendants of master potter Ray Finch and the current team consists of workshop manager Matt Grimmitt, Katrin Maier, Meryn Scammell and Sarah Wood. All potters work on every stage of the making process and within all areas of the workshop, right from mixing the dry ingredients for the clay, glazes and slips, firing the wood kilns, welcoming visitors and running the on-site shop.

Over the years the pottery has employed many potters, trained students, welcomed guest craftspeople and prides itself on continuing this tradition to this day.