OUR NEWS
SHOP SMALL THIS CHRISTMAS
We've got a busy time coming up at the end of November - our Christmas show, Wild Things, has its Private View on the 22nd and, the following week, we're taking part in this Shop Tetbury late night shopping event over two evenings, alongside dozens of other indepedent shops in the town centre and coinciding with the lights switch-on on the Friday evening.
The reality is we just won't close on those two afternoons - we'll run right through till 8pm. There'll be glasses of fizz and impromptu art appreciation and 'choosing art for your home' tips. So feel free to bring in photos of rooms and empty walls!
We'll also be launching our new Art Gift Vouchers for the festive season.
Our late night shopping event is our antidote to Black Friday - we have nothing mass produced, there are lots of unique, creative and original gift ideas and there's loads of expertise on offer. Look forward to seeing you...
A NEW SUMMER ARTS FESTIVAL
If you love nurturing, visiting or appreciating gardens then our enterprising South Cotswolds team have devised an art and culture festival that could be your pick of the crop this summer.
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The very first Everything in the Garden summer arts festival will launch on 11 May and continue till the end of August. Organised by five women prominent in the region's arts scene, including Chris of Spencer House Gallery, the programme is an imaginative fusion of artistic, musical and historical celebrations of gardens and their ability to revive our spirits.
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At the centre of the festival is the country's sole surviving Rococo garden – Painswick Rococo Garden, near Stroud. The other partners are Tetbury Goods Shed arts centre, arts organiser Watch this Space Collective and acclaimed landscape painter Angie Spencer.
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See opposite for our main event in the programme, opening on the first day of summer: a vibrant exhibition starring Angie's work plus Wendi Weller's giant semi-abstract flower and bud paintings and a range of other garden-themed art, plus the Winners of a plein air contest at Painswick Rococo Garden.
Lots of good things growing in our garden. More details to follow soon...
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FOR SPRING & SUMMER 2024...
EVERYTHING IN THE GARDEN
Garden Art Contest Launches Festival
Calling all landscape artists!
Painswick Rococo Garden is the ideal setting for a spring Plein Air Art Competition to launch the first 'Everything in the Garden' Arts Festival which we're leading with three arts and culture organisations and painter Angie Spencer. This gorgeous Georgian garden, squeezed into a hidden valley, has fantastic vistas, serpentine paths and rolling countryside, as well as charming follies. Plenty of inspiration for artists who enter the 'Rococo Live' outdoor contest, organised by Watch This Space, on Saturday 11 May, 10am – 4pm. Entries will be judged and awards made, with winners' work exhibited with us and at Tetbury Goods Shed this summer.
To register go to: https://wtscollective.co.uk/plein-air-competition.
The fee is £20. For the full 'Everything in the Garden' festival programme – art, music and talks – keep watching this website or go to rococogarden.org.uk or shed-arts.co.uk. More details to follow soon...
12 December 2023
Here's a story that went out to the local South Cotswold media yesterday
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Tetbury Gallery Showcases TV 'Make It At Market' Talent
Supporters of Tetbury's town centre fine art space, Spencer House Gallery, should be glued to the box this week to catch a glimpse of the work of up-and-coming stone carver Louise Regan on the BBC's Make It At Market programme.
The Gallery had debuted Louise's stone carvings – and accompanying paintings – that will air to a national audience on BBC1 on Thursday 14 December, 4.30pm. The show is presented by The Repair Shop’s Dom Chinea, alongside a team of business and craft experts who help budding entrepreneurs make a living from their hobby.
Louise, an established artist and illustrator, returned to education in 2021 to study stone masonry. Hearing that the show was seeking stone carvers, she applied to programme makers, Flabbergast TV, impressed them with her talent and was invited to take part.
For her filmed demonstration she chose to carve a bishop, based on the Chessmen of Lewis. This very same bishop, plus a set of four other pieces, is now on show and sale at Spencer House Gallery as part of their support for Louise's rise to stone carving fame.
Following the BBC platform and her South Cotswolds gallery debut, Louise is running two-day stone carving starter courses, introducing beginners to this vital heritage craft. Details are available from Spencer House Gallery, 34 Long Street where the Christmas show continues till 23 December, Thursday to Sunday.
Christmas Art Trail Launches in Tetbury - 17 November 2023
Three Tetbury venues have teamed up for the town's first Christmas Art Trail, celebrating regional artists in many styles and media.
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We have partnered with Tetbury Goods Shed and Neptune by Closa, also on Long Street, to stage a series of art show events, kicking off from 17 November and running till 23 December.
This is a first, joint approach to promoting the wonderful art and artists of this region during this festive season. If it goes well we may look to extend the trail in 2024.
There'll be two selling art exhibitions at the Goods Shed over the winter period – 'Garden Matters' and 'Telling Tales' - plus a Christmas Craft Fair over the weekend of 2 and 3 December.
Meanwhile, Andy Jennings at Neptune by Closa is making his debut in the local art scene by hosting 'Art at the Chapel', with a range of contemporary work hung in their large and stylish kitchen showroom space.
Our Christmas exhibition is 'Animal Magic', where the featured artists all focus on animal subjects in ceramic, paint and hand-printing. Hares, horses, bears and numerous other creatures will be on show alongside a range of landscape, still life and other work in a wide variety of media, mainly by Cotswolds and South-West artists.
There's a joint Private View event for 'Art at the Chapel' and 'Animal Magic' on Friday 24 November, 6-8pm: contact me for more details and to reserve a free place – chriswoodcock@spencerhousegallery.co.uk
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NEWS
NEWS
STOP PRESS: 30 October 2023
'Equinox'
First Open Exhibition of Tetbury Art Society
to be hosted by Spencer House Gallery
23 & 24 March 2024
Members and non-members can enter - see details opposite.
All media welcome.
Prizes and certificates, in five categories, presented by the Gallery.
Entry fee proceeds to the 'Restoring Hope' campaign for
women still in Afghanistan, via Women for Women International.
More details from tetburyartsociety.org.uk or email tetburyart.media@outlook.com
NEWS
NEWS
NEWS
8 JULY 2022
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SOON TO HANG THE FIRST SUMMER SHOW
It's all systems go at the gallery - and off-site - as we gather together the works of our 40 artists and finalise their details before we load a representative selection onto our website and then plan and complete the hang in the four main display spaces.
We also manage a 'gradual reveal' on Instagram @spencer_house_gallery and Facebook @spencerhousegallery, introducing our followers to new artists and new works to offer a taste of things to come. Sometimes this results in sales even before the show opens - and that's absolutely fine with us as we offer private views by appointment and can deal with sales enquiries pretty much any time, even if the physical gallery isn't open or we're between shows. It's all part of the service.
Curating is a time-consuming, exhausting and utterly exhilarating challenge. We put in a lot of effort to discover experts in their own fields and select the very best of what they do, as well as to reflect our theme.
It's so exciting going to artists' studios to learn about how they work, and what inspires them, and then see their creations, in a variety of media, coming in.
Nice work if you can get it - and we're glad that we have.
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NEWS
10TH MAY 2022
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EVE OF GALLERY OPENING
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Spencer House Gallery was all lit up and ready to go on the eve of its debut show - Breathing Space, 11 May - 18 June 2022.
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The work of 30 contemporary British artists - across a wide range of media - was curated by gallery owner, Chris Woodcock.
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Lots to admire. Lots to enjoy. Accessible art in the heart of Tetbury, the capital of the South Cotswolds.
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PRESS
24TH APRIL 2022
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BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO TETBURY'S ART SCENE
New gallery showcases regional names
Dozens of regional artists - well-established names and newcomers - will have their latest work on show in a contemporary art gallery that opens in the heart of Tetbury in May 2022.
Spencer House Gallery, on Long Street, will hold up to five selling exhibitions per year, aiming to cement Tetbury's reputation as a centre of excellence for fine art lovers as well as an antiques trade hub.
Owner Chris Woodcock says: “We couldn't have asked for a better location – a stylish Georgian town house, in a bustling Cotswold tourist destination, surrounded by superb buildings, independent boutiques and sought-after eateries.
“We'll be making the most of the high ceilings and historic features of the building in showing a carefully curated range of art – from paintings and prints to textile and ceramic sculptures, all accessibly priced.
“We're proud to have on the team Cotswold and English regional artists who are known for their excellent technical skills as well as for their distinctive creativity. We want to share our enthusiasm for art, with those who want to view the exhibitions as well as those keen to buy.”
Former chair of Tetbury Chamber of Commerce and Administrator of Tetbury Goods Shed Arts Centre, Kathryn Limoi, adds: “Spencer House Gallery is a wonderful fillip to Tetbury's fine art reputation. Its owners have a passion for what they do: we're already hoping to collaborate on shows and ideas for arts-based events that will have wide appeal.”
The new gallery's launch exhibition, Breathing Space, features artists including popular Cotswold landscape painters Caroline Chappell and Abigail Waddell, printmakers Alexandra Buckle and Peg Morris and a range of acclaimed ceramicists, textile artists and sculptors. The show runs from 11 May to 18 June, open 10am-1pm and 2-4.30pm, Wednesday to Saturday, with occasional Sunday opening as well. Entry is free.
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