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Date: 09 Aug 2024
Category: City regeneration and development, Culture and arts
The award-winning Golden Thread Gallery will re-open to the public in new premises on Queen Street on Saturday August 10, 2024.
The former Gas Corporation Showroom and Craftworld building at 23-29 Queen Street, Belfast, has been renovated and restored to bespoke specifications to become the gallery’s new city-centre home, with help from Belfast City Council’s Vacant to Vibrant funding.
Set across two floors, the new venue includes large galleries, a projection room, a Community Participation and Engagement Hub, and NI’s first visual art library and archive. Entry to the gallery is free.
Belfast Lord Mayor, Councillor Micky Murray said: “It’s wonderful to see the Golden Thread Gallery open these beautiful, accessible new city centre premises during our biggest ever city-wide celebration of creativity, Belfast 2024. The gallery been made possible partly thanks to our Vacant to Vibrant investment in this previously derelict building, originally designed in 1871 by architect William Hastings. It’s so encouraging to see how our Vacant to Vibrant scheme is helping to revitalise our city centre, already helping to bring 20 city centre properties back into use; supporting 80 direct employment opportunities and returning £3.87 in rates income for every £1 invested by council.
“All over the world, city centres are changing rapidly. To thrive, they need to offer a distinctive, authentic experience that includes not only retail, but also welcoming and engaging spaces and opportunities for leisure, culture, living, studying, working, visiting, and socialising.
“That’s exactly what we’re seeking to do in partnership with a wide range of agencies and organisations in Belfast – including Golden Thread Gallery. I’d like to congratulate the building owner Daren Millar, LEJA Properties and Sarah McAvera, Peter Richards and the Golden Thread Gallery team on their vision, and dedication to making it a reality. I wish them every success with their programme of events, research facility and community and artist resources.”
Daren Millar, of LEJA Properties, the owner of the building, said she is: “delighted that this much-loved Belfast building, now restored to reveal many of its original Art Deco features, will house a modern gallery which promises to bring joy to many. Belfast is thriving and it has been an amazing experience to facilitate the renovation of a derelict building to its former glory at the very centre of the City’s ever evolving landscape.”
Architect John FitzGerald of Dickson FitzGerald Architects added: “I’m delighted to have been involved in this deceptively complicated project. Working closely with the Gallery Directors and under instruction from the building Owner Mrs Daren Millar, we strove to create a modern bespoke Gallery that is fully compliant with current regulations whilst, where possible, retaining and exposing elements of the old building. The facade has been sympathetically restored to reflect the original Art Deco Elevation and will take its place with pride on Queen Street once again”.
Queen Street itself has a history of being a home to art and design, from important printers and stationers’ firms such as John Dickinson & Sons and Robert Carswell & Sons in the 1800s, Craftworld and Bradbury Graphics in the 1970s and 80s, to Platform Arts Studios and Queen Street Studios in the 1990s.
Co-Directors Peter Richards and Sarah McAvera and the GTG team are looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the gallery.
Peter Richards said: “We're excited to collaborate with you to actively cultivate the rich histories of art in Belfast, fostering its power to inspire and empower our communities for generations to come.”
Co-Director Sarah McAvera said: “We’re delighted that the gallery is now in the heart of Belfast city centre, in a location where we can not only welcome back our existing audiences but be more easily discovered by new visitors. We’ve always been passionate about the power of art as a place to dream, to think outside of yourself, to be creative and to have fun. We work with communities across the city, and our new venue truly has something for everyone.”
Two new exhibitions will launch on August 10: The End of Art is Peace by acclaimed artist Graham Fagen in the Upper Gallery, and Charlotte, Rob, Robin & You by Northern Ireland based artists Charlotte Bosanquet, Rob Hilken, and Robin Price in the Lower Gallery.
The new Community Participation & Engagement Hub is a welcoming and creative space, open to all, hosting free workshops, events, artist talks and community group activities. It includes a Free Library, play area and a Junior Gallery. The Hub has been made possible thanks to funding support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Art Fund. The NI Visual Art Library & Archive is Northern Ireland’s first dedicated visual art research library open to the public. Thanks to funding support from Ampersand Foundation, this resource will make hundreds of rare art books, reference materials and exhibition catalogues available to researchers, students, and visitors.
The new gallery is an accessible venue with step-free street access, lift to the first floor, a wheelchair-accessible ground-floor bathroom, sensory guide to exhibitions and large-print versions of all gallery texts available. The library and archive room on the ground floor offers wheelchair accessible workspaces, adjustable seating, magnification aids for people with vision impairment and reading aids for people with dyslexia.
For more information on Golden Thread Gallery, go to www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk
And for information on Belfast City Council’s Vacant to Vibrant funding, go to www.belfastcity.gov.uk/vacanttovibrant